Blood Stained Hands
by LAXgirl
Summary: Supposedly killed in an Akatsuki attack, no one knows what to think when Naruto is later found still alive but mentally shattered and dangerously close to losing control over Kyuubi. Can Sasuke save his friend or is Naruto doomed to darkness? COMPLETE!
1. Whispers of Danger

**_07/25/07 Edit:_**

**_IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE_: **Over the course of writing this story the issue of the number of Akatsuki members there are seemed to keep popping up, and quite frankly I'm sick of hearing about it. So, I'm going to explain myself now before you, my new-found reader, delve any deeper into this story. I _know _there are technically only ten members of Akatsuki (assuming you count Orochimaru and all the others that have died since I started writing this fic). My point is that no organization (no matter how strong their inner/elite members are) could possibly pose such a dangerous threat on an international level like they're suppose to in the Naruto universe unless they had a large number (ie. hundreds or thousands) of peons, underlings and covert agents working for them. That being said, in my story there are numerous Akatsuki members besides the well-known elite inner ten, although they are basically all nameless, faceless ninja who do nothing more than cause trouble for our heros. Also, I like those red cloud embossed cloaks. So I wrote all my Akatsuki members as wearing them.

So, if the artistic licensing I took on that **_minor _**canon detail truly upsets you that much and you just can't bring yourself to deal with it, please don't read any further.

Thank you, that is all,  
-LAXgirl

* * *

Disclaimer : Naruto and all other associated characters are not mine nor are they being used for profit in the telling of this story.

**Chapter One: Whispers of Danger**

Dark eyes scanned the sea of rooftops before him, watching the early morning sunlight gradually illuminate the sleepy village as the sun steadily climbed its way higher into the clear blue sky. Below, many villagers were already moving about in the streets, preparing to start their day. As the sun climbed ever higher into the sky, the sounds of life began to rise in volume.

But to Sasuke Uchiha - sitting alone on one of the many rooftops - the hustle and bustle of daily life held little meaning to him. The activities the rest of his fellow villagers chose to spend their lives doing were no more important to him than the toils of a bunch of ants. He felt no connection to them, no common bond, no reason to feel like he belonged or was one of them.

He hadn't felt any kind of connection like that since he tried leaving Konoha more than two years ago. After his attempt to abscond from Konoha and join Orochimaru and his gang of missing-nin, he had become an unofficial outsider by those that now only tolerated his presence. It was rather ironic really - he had never wanted anything to do with Konoha when he was its favored prodigal child, but now, when the village only kept him around to make sure none of its secrets or coveted bloodline traits left with him, he was shunned.

Karma. It was a bitch.

Sasuke sighed, staring into the distance as the sun drove away the last lingering traces of night.

He knew he had only himself to blame for his situation. After all, no one had held a kunai to his throat and made him leave - his own ambition and thirst for vengeance had been responsible for that. But somewhere in the back of his mind, Sasuke still couldn't help but feel some small pang of anger towards the one that had dragged him - kicking and screaming - back to the village of his birth:

Namely Konoha's number one loud-mouthed, orange-wearing prankster and Hokage wannabe, Naruto Uzumaki…

Sasuke grit his teeth at the memory of that day. He'd been so sure he'd finally found a way to kill his brother and avenge his family that he hadn't cared about anything else but Orochimaru's promise to help him get stronger - and to hell with whatever the consequences might be! But just when he thought he could finally realize his dream, who should come along but his annoying, knuckleheaded teammate to drag him back.

Apparently the idiot had made some promise to Sakura to bring him back and even got several of their fellow rookies to go after him. It had been a brutal battle. Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, Lee, and Choji had almost been killed by Orochimaru's bodyguards, the Sound Four, and only managed to defeat the curse-sealed ninja by the skin of their teeth.

But their battles were nothing compared to the one that had taken place between Naruto and himself. The memory of Chidori and Naruto's Rasengan meeting in a titanic clash of power still sent a chill racing down the Uchiha heir's spine. Looking back on it now, it frightened him how differently that battle could have ended. If he hadn't hesitated at the very last moment - sparing Naruto's life and giving the blond an opening to attack - he could have very well killed his teammate.

For a brief moment during that battle, he had truly wanted to kill the blond - to finally prove he was stronger and sever his last and only remaining tie to Konoha. But something had stopped him. Itachi had said the only way for him to fully mature his Sharingan was to kill his best friend. He could have done that with Naruto. Somehow during their time together on Team Kakashi Naruto had become his best (if not only) friend. He could have finally obtained the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan like his brother, but to do so would have resulted in not only the death of Naruto but also some small part of himself. And he couldn't do that. No matter how annoying the loudmouth could be at times, Sasuke didn't want to see him dead.

Whatever the case or his reasons for stopping, he had ultimately been knocked unconscious by Naruto's Rasengan and woken up back in Konoha under heavy ANBU guard. Charged with attempted desertion, he'd only been allowed to continue being a ninja by agreeing to submit to a number of strict rules laid down on him by the village elders and new Hokage. He was no longer allowed to move around the village freely. Although they never made themselves known, he knew he was under almost constant surveillance by covert ninja. He wasn't allowed to leave the village - even on a mission - without an ANBU escort to make sure he didn't try to leave again, and was now restricted as to what kind of missions he could take. There was also question as to whether he would be allowed to join the ANBU black opts someday.

He had lost all chances of ever joining Orochimaru and learning how to defeat his brother that day Naruto brought him back. In a way he still resented Naruto for bringing him back. But at the same time, he was secretly grateful for the blond klutz. Despite his still burning desire to hunt down and kill Itachi, over the years he had come to the conclusion that him joining Orochimaru and submitting to such a dark and self-destructive path would have been exactly what his older brother wanted him to do. And he would be damned if he ever let Itachi manipulate him like that.

Unfortunately, he'd never gotten a chance to thank Naruto for saving him; for shortly after bringing him back to Konoha, Naruto had left with his strange new sensei, Jiraiya, for intense individual training.

Sasuke hadn't heard anything from the blond whirlwind since.

Sakura along with many of the other Rookie Nine had also gone off to individual training. He still sometimes saw Sakura around the village, but she was often too preoccupied training with the new Hokage to become a medi-nin to talk with him. And even when they did run into each other, she no longer looked at him the same way she used to. It seemed his betrayal of the village and him nearly killing Naruto had shattered whatever schoolgirl crush she once had for him. There was a tension now between them Sasuke couldn't quite explain. It was like she was suspiciously wary of him now.

Sasuke sighed and stood from his place on the roof. He'd always been alone - had been ever since his brother slaughtered their entire family. But now, more than ever before, Sasuke truly felt the cold, burning sting of loneliness deep inside his heart. For with Naruto's departure, he'd lost his one and only true friend in Konoha. He had no reason to stay anymore, but no longer had the option to leave.

It was a truly sad and pitiful state he was in. There were times when Sasuke wondered if he would ever get his revenge on Itachi…

Turning away from the rising sun, Sasuke kicked off the edge of the roof and began to make his way towards the other end of the village, bounding from rooftop to rooftop like only a trained ninja could do. He was suppose to meet Kakashi later that morning to discuss his next mission. After his attempted desertion and in agreement with his tenuous terms of return, Kakashi had been one of the only ANBU sensei willing to take responsibility for overseeing Sasuke's missions and making sure he didn't try to leave again. The silver-haired jounin still treated Sasuke as his student and continued to train him, but at times Sasuke felt like Kakashi was really doing nothing more than filling the role of some kind of glorified babysitter. It was so degrading at times it made Sasuke seriously begin to consider trying to leave Konoha again.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Sasuke eventually came within sight of the main gates of the village. The towering wood doors were open, offering passage to the outside world to everyone else but him.

Sasuke probably would have gone past the gates without even a second glance if he didn't happen to spot out of the corner of his eye two figures coming through the gates into the village at that very moment. One was a tall man with long, spiky white hair that reached almost to the ground. The other was a boy, no older than his mid-teens, with a headful of unruly blond hair.

Sasuke almost missed his footing on the next rooftop in his startled haste to stop. For a moment all the Uchiha heir could do was stare, frozen by the sight of the one he beheld.

_Naruto…_

It was him... The loudmouthed prankster. He'd finally come back…

At first Sasuke didn't know what to think. But then with hardly any hesitation, he took off in the direction of his friend while somewhere in his heart the loneliness that'd consumed him for the past two years suddenly didn't feel so bad.

oooooo

"Good to be home, kid?" Jiraiya chuckled as he watched his student excitedly look around.

"Wow! The village's hardly changed!" Naruto exclaimed, almost bouncing in place. He hardly seemed to know where to look first. "Ugh. But I see they finally got around to putting the old hag's face up," he said, glancing at the huge stone image of Tsunade's face looking down on them from the mountainside overlooking Konoha.

"Show some respect, kid," Jiraiya warned. "If Tsunade hears you calling her old again she's going to punch you into next week."

For his part, the hyperactive ninja actually did Jiraiya the favor of blanching in fear.

Smirking, the Sannin said, "I actually have to go check in with the new Hokage now, so why don't you go look around the village a bit."

"Yeah, okay!" Naruto exclaimed, his whiskered face breaking into an ear splitting grin. "The first place I'm going is Ichiraku! I haven't had any decent ramen in ages!"

Jiraiya shook his head and gave a long-suffering sigh. Leave it to Naruto to put ramen first on his things-to-do list after being away for more than two years. One would think after so much time he might want to see his friends or check up on some old acquaintances, but no. The kid just wanted to go to that blasted noodle stand of his. He guessed it was only natural. After all, Naruto's love for ramen bordered on legendary. It was all he'd heard about their first six months of training how no other place could match Ichiraku's noodles.

Still shaking his head at the hopelessness of his student, Jiraiya turned to leave. But before he could even take a single step away, the wandering Sannin abruptly stopped, his eyes narrowing in disdain.

Before them, standing several yards away blocking their way into the village was none other than the prodigal wonder-child of Konoha, Sasuke Uchiha.

Jiraiya had to fight with himself not to let his animosity show. He might have not been present during Sasuke's attempted desertion, but he had heard all about it from Tsunade how the power-hungry brat had almost killed Naruto. Through his and the Hokage's frequent messages to each other Jiraiya had heard about the regulations put on Sasuke restricting him from leaving the village. If it had been up to him he would have never even let the brat back at all. But he guessed that was why he wasn't the Hokage…

Naruto however didn't seem to hold any reservations greeting his former teammate.

"Sasuke! You're still here!" he happily cried.

"Thanks to you," the other boy replied, his tone unreadable and expression impassive.

"So they let you stay after all. I had to beg Tsunade not to kick you out. She said she was half-tempted to banish you even after all the trouble we went through to get you back."

Sasuke's already ever-present frown deepened. "Well, then I guess I'm just lucky to have a loser friend like you," he snidely replied.

Naruto's face warped into a disgruntled pout. "Don't call me a loser. I can kick your ass from here all the way to the other side of the village now without even breaking a sweat. Plus…" he trailed off with a vulpine grin, stepping closer to Sasuke until he was standing right in front of him, "I'm taller than you now."

Sasuke was dismayed to note the blond was right. Sometime over the last two years the hyperactive blond had shot up several inches, making him have to actually look _up_ at Naruto (something the dark-haired boy was not pleased to admit).

"That's probably because you haven't been eating that godforsaken ramen of yours," Sasuke retorted, folding his arms across his chest. "That stuff probably stunted your growth several years."

"Speaking of ramen, wasn't that where you were just heading, Naruto?" Jiraiya briskly cut in, eyeing Sasuke darkly. He didn't like his student talking to boy that'd almost killed him. Hopefully he could distract Naruto into forgetting about Sasuke and going in search of his aforementioned noodles. In his opinion, the less Naruto hung out with Sasuke, the better.

But it seemed Naruto wasn't of the same mindset.

"That's right! Come on, Sasuke! I want some ramen! You can treat!" Naruto shouted, grabbing the other boy by the arm and dragging him away in the direction of Ichiraku. "I want to know what you've been doing the last two years. Maybe we'll even see some of the other rookies. How's Sakura? Have you heard anything from Gaara? Jiraiya wouldn't let me write any letters or tell me anything about what was going on back home while we were training. He said it would distract me. Have you been training with Kakashi-sensei? Did you learn any new moves? We'll have to go spar sometime. But not before we go to Ichiraku!"

The hyperactive teen's voice gradually faded into the distance as he continued to bodily pull the dark-haired boy after him, all the while happily babbling on without giving Sasuke any time to actually answer.

Jiraiya stared after them, displeased with the idea the Uchiha boy was still with Naruto. If he didn't know better he would have almost said Sasuke looked… content, with the faintest hint of an actual smile on his face, as Naruto dragged him away. He didn't like it. He was going to have to talk to Tsunade about this. After what that boy did trying to leave the village, he didn't trust him anymore. Naruto was too trusting a soul to believe his former teammate could still be dangerous. It was kind of amazing how easily the naïve boy could forget personal slights like that (even those that'd almost resulted in his death…)

Yes, he was going to go straight to Tsunade about this. That Uchiha boy was bad news…

oooooo

As chance would have it Sasuke and Naruto did happen to meet up with some of their fellow rookies on the way to Ichiraku. First their old teammate Sakura, then the old Team Eight - Shino, Hinata, and Kiba along with a grown Akamaru - and as a final stroke of coincidence Rock Lee and a slightly disgruntled looking Neji. More out of wanting to catch up with their friend who they hadn't seen for the last two years than any actual desire to sample the culinary delights of Ichiraku ramen, the others agreed to accompany the two to lunch.

Unfortunately, blinded by the warm welcomes of his friends and excited exchange of news Naruto failed to notice the suspicious glares aimed at Sasuke behind the blond's back as they seated themselves in the noodle shop and gave their orders. Even after two years none of them had forgotten Sasuke's betrayal or the way he'd almost killed their friend, and made no attempt to pretend they had.

Sasuke however gave no sign he saw their looks or noticed their hostile auras, and chose rather to ignore them with his usual indifferent air of superiority. As if to prove he truly didn't care what the others thought of him or his past mistakes he purposely sat himself right beside Naruto at the counter, secretly enjoying the way the others had to speak around him if they wanted to talk to Naruto.

"So you're training with the old hag now?" Naruto asked, slurping up a mouthful of noodles as he glanced down the counter towards the pink-haired medi-nin in training sitting at the other end beside Lee. "How's that going?"

"Don't call Tsunade-sama an old hag!" Sakura yelled, glaring at her old teammate. "Not only is she Hokage but she's also one of the most skilled medi-nin alive. She could tear you in two if she wanted to."

"Yeah, whatever…" Naruto mumbled, slurping up another mouthful of noodles. "She tried to do that before and didn't beat me. She should just give me the title of Hokage now."

Sakura looked ready to lunge at Naruto, but Lee managed to grab her in time and hold her back.

"You must be very strong now," Hinata softly spoke up, looking at Naruto with shy, adoring eyes. "After two years of training you must have learned a lot."

"Sure did!" Naruto beamed, eager to boast. "I could beat up almost anyone now!"

Sasuke wasn't the only one to roll his eyes at the blond's usual loudmouth bragging.

"Then you probably came back to Konoha at the best of times," Neji said.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at him. "Why's that?"

"No one has actually said anything about what is going on, but we have noticed the last couple weeks that the jounin and ANBU ninja in the village have been acting strangely," Lee explained. "Gai-sensei and a couple of the others seem anxious, as though they are waiting for something big to happen."

"It's true," Kiba agreed, his expression grave. "Kurenai- sensei didn't come with us on our last mission because she said she had to stay behind in the village for security reasons."

"Tsunade-sama's been acting strangely too," Sakura added. "She's seemed more stressed lately, and keeps having these secret, closed-door meetings with ANBU black opts. Something's going on…"

A heavy silence descended on the noodle shop, the mystery of the village's top ninja's unease an almost tangible presence in the air.

Beside Naruto, Sasuke sat quietly on his stool, digesting the others' observations as his eyes narrowed in troubled thought. He too had noticed something off the last few weeks. More than once in the past month Kakashi had disappeared without any word as to where he was going or why. It was almost like the ninja of the village were preparing for war.

"Well, whatever everybody else is worried about doesn't scare me!" Naruto loudly announced to the shop. "If someone wants to attack Konoha, then let them come! I'll stop them!"

Many of the others didn't pay attention the blond's boasts. But beside Naruto, Sasuke felt an unexplainable wave of dread rise in the back of his throat, as though Naruto's boasts had somehow just sealed the hyperactive prankster to a dark and tragic fate…

oooooo

"I'm telling you, Tsunade, I don't like that kid. He needs to be stopped from talking to Naruto."

"As much as I dislike Sasuke myself, I cannot just arbitrarily ban the two of them from seeing each other. Naruto would probably think we were somehow trying to punish him if we did that," the Fifth Hokage of Konoha sighed as she wearily leaned back in her chair. On her desk was a small mountain of paperwork. One pile near the edge looked precariously close to toppling onto the floor. "Besides," Tsunade went on, looking up at Jiraiya with shadowed eyes, "there are more serious matters for us to deal with than Naruto renewing his friendship with Sasuke…"

Jiraiya abruptly stopped his angry pacing in front of Tsunade's desk and took a seat in one of the chairs facing her. "What's going on? I noticed the extra security you had posted at the gates when Naruto and I came back this morning. Are you expecting some kind of attack?"

"Possibly," the female Sannin replied, tiredly massaging the pinch of skin between her eyes. "Over the last few weeks we've noticed a number of enemy scouts on the borders of Konoha. We think it's Akatsuki. We managed to capture two of these scouts on different occasions but both bit down on cyanide capsules hidden in their mouths and died before we could get the chance to interrogate them."

"That doesn't sound good, Tsunade," Jiraiya murmured. "Do you have any idea what they might be after?"

Tsunade's already troubled face darkened. "We have no way of confirming it, but we think Akatsuki might be searching for jinchuriki - human demon-vessels. Two weeks ago I received word from our spies in the Sand country that Gaara, the new Kazekage, was attacked and almost killed by two known Akatsuki members. He managed to escape without harm, but such a direct attack on a powerful country like Sand is a troublesome sign of Akatsuki's growing strength. There have also been unconfirmed reports from several other countries of other jinchuriki mysteriously disappearing."

"You don't think Akatsuki would actually dare to try attacking Konoha, do you?" Jiraiya asked. Both knew the implications of what other such attacks and disappearances could mean.

"I honestly don't know what to think anymore, Jiraiya…" Tsunade sighed. Leaning forward in her seat the kunoichi desperately speared her old teammate with worried blue eyes, "Please, Jiraiya, you have to tell Naruto to be careful. I don't know how much longer it's going to be before Akatsuki finally comes after him…"

oooooo

Night had long since fallen over the land of Fire. Hovering in the inky sky a full moon gazed down on the silent land below, bathing it in silver, ethereal light. Beyond the gates of Konoha, nothing but miles of empty forest stretched out in all directions towards the dark horizon. But somewhere in the quiet wilderness a lone figure stood on the highest branch of an ancient oak tree, staring at the sleeping village nestled between the rolling folds of land in the distance.

Swirling red eyes gazed over the upturned collar of a billowing black cloak that hid the rest of its owner's form from view. As the mysterious figure continued to scrutinize the Hidden Leaf Village another dark figure approached, silently bounding up the tree until he stood beneath him on the next highest branch.

"My lord," the second figure whispered, bowing his masked head low, "our spies inside the village report our target has finally returned. We await your orders."

The red-eyed figure balanced silently a moment longer before finally tearing his swirling, tomoe-dotted gaze away from the unsuspecting village.

"After two years of waiting it is finally time to attack," he said, his unnatural eyes shining eerily in moonlight. "Alert surrounding squads. We attack tomorrow night."

As the other ninja bowed and disappeared back into the night, Itachi Uchiha turned back towards the sleeping village of Konoha. "Soon," he whispered under his breath like a deadly promise. "Soon, Uzumaki, until you and that demon you hold inside you finally belong to Akatsuki…"

Then like a blurry shadow blending back into the night, Itachi disappeared without even the slightest rustle of leaves to betray his departure…

To Be Continued…


	2. Blood Stained Hands

Wow. I was pleasantly surprised with the response for the first chapter. Thank you. This one's significantly longer, so I hope I don't scare anyone away with its length. It was originally suppose to be posted with chapter one, but it just would have been too long.

**Chapter Two: Blood Stained Hands**

The day was already over. Night was steadily spreading its veil of darkness over the land. Sasuke wasn't sure when time had flown by so quickly before. For as long as he could remember he had gone through the long and meaningless days like a chore, never having anything to look forward or anything to break the monotony of his routine. At times he felt like a robot. For all anyone else cared, he could have very well been one. He had no friends, no relatives, no hopes or reason to go on. All he had were the shattered remains of his dream to someday avenge his family, but after his attempt to leave Konoha even that had been taken away from him. For all intents and purposes he was nothing more than the living dead. After all, what else did he have to look forward to now but Death to free him from this hellish, lonely prison he was forced to call his life?

But with the return of a single person Sasuke began to wonder if maybe there still wasn't something in this miserable, wretched world worth living for.

Said person was currently sitting beside him at the counter of the same noodle stand they'd been at just the day before slurping down his second bowl of ramen. Finishing off that bowl and pushing it aside, Naruto called to the owner for yet another.

Sasuke meanwhile quietly ate his own - still only his first - while he basked in the unfamiliar sense of contentment the presence of his loudmouth companion gave him. He didn't know how they'd managed to meet up again, but as he'd been leaving his house earlier that morning - expecting another soul-wearying day of meaningless existence - who should he come across but his former teammate and friend. The blond had been wandering around with a confused look on his face. When approached by a curious Sasuke he'd explained that he'd managed to get himself lost. The village had changed over the last two years, he'd said. The Uchiha heir didn't think the village had changed that much - hardly at all, really - but then again it _was_ Naruto he was talking about…

Sasuke hadn't intended to end up spending the entire day with Naruto - showing him the newer sights of the village and doing nothing more than whiling away the time with the blond - but somehow he had, and found himself strangely content with the world because of it. He couldn't explain it but for the first time in as long as he could remember he was truly… happy. He'd forgotten what it felt like to have fun or enjoy being alive. He'd forgotten what it was like to have someone actually want to be around him and not glare at him in suspicious distrust. But most of all he'd forgotten what it was like to just have a friend.

Somehow being with Naruto made him feel less lonely, less hated. He almost felt human when he was with the rambunctious whirlwind and not like the despised traitor he was with everyone else. The other boy didn't seem to care about his past mistakes. He accepted him for who he was and nothing else. It was so different and unfamiliar from everything else Sasuke knew he couldn't help but wonder if something so good was really meant to last. Everything else good in his life had always been taken away.

Drinking the last of the broth from his bowl, Naruto leaned back on his stool and gave a contented sigh, his eyes narrowing into two happy slits. "Thanks for the ramen, Sasuke," he grinned. "That sure hit the spot."

"How can you eat this stuff everyday?" Sasuke said, poking several uneaten noodles floating in his own bowl contemptuously. "By the way you go on and on about it, you'd think old man Ichiraku was drugging it or something."

Naruto just quirked his head to the side, not quite getting the slight.

Sasuke didn't bother trying to explain.

"So what'cha doing tomorrow?" Naruto asked, happily rocking back and forth on the back two legs of his stool. "Want to go spar?"

Sasuke looked up at Naruto with a startled expression (or at least what passed for startled on the stoic Uchiha). He wanted to spend time with him again? He was still trying to get over the idea that Naruto wanted to spend time with him at all. He had tried to kill him after all…

"Don't you have training to do with that new sensei of yours?"

"Naw. The pervert said I have the next few days off. He said I earned a break, but now I have nothing to do! If I hadn't met you this morning I probably would've died of boredom."

"But what about your other friends?" Sasuke pushed. He still couldn't quite believe Naruto was serious. "Don't you want to see them?"

"I saw them yesterday," Naruto explained. His face suddenly morphed into a wounded pout. "Why? Don't you want to go sparing with me?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto. So the idiot really did want to be around him. Even after everything he'd done. He thought that morning had been a fluke - a once in a lifetime event in which had Naruto not been lost in his part of town, he never would have willing spent time with him. But now it seemed the ramen-loving prankster hadn't just tolerated him for lack of any other friends to spend the day with, but because he truly enjoyed his presence - an almost unconceivable thing for the Uchiha to believe.

Taken aback by this unexpected revelation, Sasuke suddenly didn't trust himself to meet Naruto's eyes and stared at the countertop. "Stop whining, loser," he mumbled, the familiar insult lacking any of its usual sting. "I'll go sparing with you tomorrow."

Naruto's whiskered face broke into an ear-splitting grin. "Really? Awesome!"

Sasuke felt the tiny ball of warmth that'd begun to form in the bottom of his stomach grow a little bit bigger at his companion's obvious delight. He never thought such a simple thing as feeling wanted could be so gratifying.

But such feelings of happiness were not fated to last for the lonely boy. For just at that moment outside the ramen shop came the deafening blast of an explosion somewhere nearby. The entire shop shook. Naruto had to grab the edge of the counter to keep from falling backwards on his chair.

Outside, the echo of warning bells began to clang urgently through the falling dusk, calling all ninja to Konoha's defense.

Sasuke and Naruto barely waited before they were both speeding out the door.

People were already starting to fill the streets, talking loudly to each other as they tried to figure out what was going on. In the distance the glow of fire burning beyond the dark foreground of buildings illuminated one whole corner of the village. A giant plume of billowing smoke rose ominously up into the night sky above the area, blocking out the silvery outline of the moon.

"Someone's attacking the gates!" Sasuke shouted as he and Naruto took to the rooftops to avoid the crowds and sped towards the fire. The warning bells continued to clang plaintively in the background, echoing loudly across the village. "It looks like they've breached the walls."

Before long the two shinobi came within sight of the explosion. For a moment neither could do anything but stare at the destruction. It was like a nightmarish scene from hell. A gapping section of Konoha's defensive wall was missing, blown inward as if by some kind of bomb. Chunks of burning rubble lay strewn around its base as sparks and roiling clouds of smoke rose into the inky night sky. All the buildings within a fifty meter radius of the wall were damaged, either scorched or demolished by the explosion.

Between the shifting curtains of smoke and fire, multitudes of dark figures were fighting, locked in deadly combat as waves of invading ninja streamed into the village. Even from a distance Sasuke and Naruto could feel the enormous amount of chakra being exchanged between the two sides. It took Sasuke a minute before he was able to distinguish Konoha's ninja from those currently storming the village. And when he finally was able to identify their mysterious invaders, he felt his throat tighten with an almost frightening mixture of anticipation, hatred, and dread.

Ninja wearing long black cloaks embossed with the stylized design of blood red clouds swarmed through the decimated wall, meeting Konoha's defenses in a terrifying clash of chakra. Screams rang through the night, a number of Konoha ninja falling under the invaders' merciless attacks.

_Akatsuki…_

Sasuke' vision momentarily blurred red, but not from any kind of effect of his Sharingan. A hatred he'd almost forgotten over the last two years spent withering away under the Elders' and Hokage's new regulations suddenly boiled up inside him, as strong and virulent as when he'd first tried to leave Konoha.

It was Akatsuki. The same crime organization his older brother belonged to…

_Itachi… _

Sasuke felt the immortal hatred for his brother begin to course through his veins like liquid fire. If Akatsuki was attacking the village then there was a chance his estranged brother was amongst the invaders.

"Come on, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, leaping off the rooftop he and his companion had stopped on to survey the scene and charged onto the battlefield, kunai drawn.

"Hey, wait up!" he heard Naruto call, but didn't slow down to wait for him.

He wasn't going to let Itachi get away. He'd lost his opportunity to avenge his family once. He wasn't going to let that happen again. This time Itachi was going to pay.

The sound of dying men and the metallic stench of blood assaulted Sasuke and Naruto as they entered the fray. Without hesitation they fell into the familiar dance of life or death they'd known since their earliest days of training. Akatsuki ninja continued to pour into the village through the ruined wall; kunai, jutsu, and chakra meeting in a terrifying clash of power.

The Akatsuki ninja were skilled, and numerous. Although skilled themselves, Konoha's defenses were quickly being overwhelmed. With a hurried look with his Sharingan Sasuke guessed there was at least five dozen Akatsuki now inside the village. Because of the sudden attack only about two dozen Konoha ninja had responded in time to try and push the invaders back. If more didn't arrive soon, Konoha would be overrun with Akatsuki before they could be stopped.

Armed with kunai in both hands, Sasuke and Naruto leapt to their allies' defense. Fighting side by side the two managed to push back several Akatsuki-nin trying to break past the defensive line into the village.

"Naruto, watch out!" Sasuke yelled as one ninja lunged at his companion from behind. The blond managed to duck out of the path of his assailant's kunai in time, and dispatched him with a brutal kick to the head.

"This is ridiculous," Naruto yelled over the sounds of battle. "There's too many of them!" Lowering his stance, the blond crossed his fingers in front of his face in the form of a cross and yelled, "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Hundreds of orange jumpsuit-wearing clones suddenly appeared, spreading across the battlefield in one large defensive line. But instead of backing off their attack like any other invading force might have done, the Akatsuki ninja seemed to press harder, fighting with almost frightening ferocity for entrance into the village.

As Naruto's clones - like one massive entity - lunged at the hoards of black-cloaked ninja, Sasuke searched the battlefield for any sign of his elusive older brother.

_Where are you?_ he thought, his Sharingan eyes spinning madly. _When I find you I'm going to kill you…_

Gripping his kunai tighter, Sasuke charged after the army of Narutos currently fighting back the waves of Akatsuki ninja, unaware of the other set of Sharingan-red eyes watching the ongoing battle from the shadows of the village's surrounding forest, or their owner's almost imperceptible smirk as he assessed his friend's unnatural display of chakra…

oooooo

Naruto's breath was coming in shorter and shorter intervals as he struggled to maintain his army of clones while simultaneously fighting himself. Despite what everyone thought about his unusually high chakra level, maintaining such a large number of clones still tired him after awhile. More Konoha ninja had begun to arrive, but his clones were still carrying much of the battle themselves.

One Akatsuki ninja suddenly lunged at him, swiping a kunai at his neck. The blond shinobi leapt backwards, just barely missing the deadly blade. Curling his hand into a fist, he slammed it into his attacker's face. The man fell limp to the ground, his nose now an unrecognizable mass of flattened flesh.

Naruto took a moment to catch his breath and survey the surrounding area. Sometime during the course of battle he - along with a number of his shadow clones - had pushed the Akatsuki ninja back beyond Konoha's destroyed defensive wall. To his left the edge of Konoha's surrounding forest stood like an impenetrable wall of shadows while behind him his army of clones continued to fight off the invaders.

"That is quite an impressive show of power, hn?" a voice suddenly said behind him.

Spinning around on his heels - kunai ready - Naruto found himself face to face with two Akatsuki ninja. He couldn't say why exactly but he sensed these two were different from the other ones he'd just been fighting.

One was a feminine looking man with long blond hair pulled up in a ponytail on top of his head. On his forehead was a scratched headband from the land of Rocks. His companion wore a strange mask with a swirled black and orange pattern on it. Naruto lowered into a wary fighting stance, his kunai held threateningly out in front of him. He didn't like the looks of these two…

"So much power for such a little boy, hn?" the blond man hummed, critically looking Naruto up and down. "Who would believe such a powerful demon like Kyuubi could be sealed in such a pitiful little thing."

"You shouldn't be so harsh, Deidara-sempai," the masked man intoned. "This boy is very important to us."

Naruto sank lower into his stance, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "How do you know about Kyuubi?" he snarled.

"We know a lot about you, child," Deidara replied, his lips twisting into an unsettling smirk. "Akatsuki has had its eye on you for quiet some time. We've been waiting almost two years for you to come back. You proved hard to locate after you so unexpectedly disappeared. But here you finally are…"

"Just come along quietly and we will call off the attack," the other man said.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Naruto growled, gripping his kunai tighter. "I'll beat both of you!"

The blond man sighed, shaking his head sadly. "Somehow I knew he was going to be a brat about this. Tobi, get him."

"As you wish," the other replied and lunged at Naruto without any other warning as his hands flew into a complex series of hand signs.

Naruto sprang to the side, evading a large concentration of chakra that hit the ground right where he'd been standing only a few seconds before. Before he knew it the other Akatsuki ninja - Deidara- was also coming at him. As Naruto once again leapt away, Deidara produced a small figure of clay from seemingly no where and threw it at the confused shinobi.

For several seconds of endless eternity it tumbled end over end through the air before finally landing on the ground several feet in front of Naruto - and exploded in a tremendous burst of light.

Naruto screamed as he was sent flying backwards through the air and hit the ground with a sickening thud. Painfully pushing himself to his feet, the young shinobi quickly somersaulted backwards as another clay figure came sailing his way. Shielding his eyes from the resulting blast, Naruto sprang into the overhanging branches of the forest, hoping to gain some cover from the surrounding trees.

Without hesitation the two Akatsuki followed him into the trees. Leaping from branch to branch, Naruto delved deeper into the forest, desperate to put some distance between him and the other two ninja. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the Akatsuki ninja were stronger than he'd expected. They were going to prove a challenge. But he wasn't about to give up…

He could hear the other two ninja following close behind. Every so often he heard - and felt - the searing blast of a clay figurine explode close on his heels, forcing him to veer in another direction and head deeper into the forest.

As he was forced in yet another direction by Deidara's exploding clay, Naruto suddenly spotted through the shadowy outline of trees a small clearing up ahead bathed in ghostly blue moonlight. Veering towards it, Naruto put on an extra burst of speed. If he could just reach that clearing he might be able to turn the tables and fight...

Breaking past the tree line, Naruto skid to a halt in the middle of the clearing and whipped around to face his pursuers, kunai drawn. But instead of crashing through the trees after him, the two Akatsuki slowed and leisurely came to a stop on the edge of the clearing.

"That was easy, hn? I thought we were going to have at least a little more trouble getting him here," Deidara hummed, smirking at Naruto from beneath his long bangs.

Naruto looked between the two, confused. What were they talking about? Had Deidara been using his clay attacks to somehow herd him to this clearing? "Come on and bring it!" he yelled, eyeing the Akatsuki challenging as he lowered himself into a fighting stance. "I'll take you both on!"

"There's no need for that," a deep, unexplainably dangerous voice said behind him, almost as if it had resonated from the very shadows of the night. "It will be nothing but a waste of time."

As Naruto spun around towards this new voice he was startled to see several more figures wearing Akatsuki cloaks slowly materialize out of the surrounding shadows of the forest. There were four of them besides the two that had just chased him from the village. They all stood at staggered intervals around the perimeter of the clearing, cutting off any clear lanes of escape. Naruto looked around himself, startled by this sudden turn of events. There were too many of them for him to possibly fight. With his Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu already in effect he couldn't create any more clones without releasing the jutsu on the ones he already had. And he couldn't do that for fear of leaving the defending ninja at the wall without extra fighters.

One of the figures stepped closer into the clearing, his long cloak swishing softly over the grass. As the moonlight illuminated his features, Naruto felt a sinking feeling of dread form in the bottom of his stomach. For staring back at him with unnatural tomoe-dotted, Sharingan-red eyes was none other than Sasuke's older brother Itachi Uchiha.

"So we meet again," Itachi said, his deep voice sending a cold shiver of fear racing down Naruto's spine. "I have been looking forward to this day for quite some time…"

"What do you want with me?" Naruto demanded, eyeing the six S-class ninja warily.

"What do we want?" Itachi intoned, his red eyes glowing eerily in the moonlight. A nasty chuckle echoed across the clearing. "Why, the nine-tailed fox demon you hold inside you, of course. Why else would we go to so much trouble attacking Konoha to draw you out? You are one of the last remaining demon-vessels we have yet to break the seal on."

Naruto desperately glanced out of the corner of his eye towards one of the open areas of trees between the ninja surrounding him. If he could time it right he might just be able to break past them and make it back to the village. Never in his life had Naruto ever considered running away from a fight. But when faced with six S-class ninja, even he knew his chances of winning were not very good…

"You cannot escape," Itachi said, as if reading the younger shinobi's mind. "And there is no one who can come save you in time. You are doomed…"

Naruto looked back at Itachi, his fear doubling at the oldest Uchiha's words. But then, his face morphing into an expression of hardened resolve, Naruto once again lowered into a fighting stance. "That's what you think," he spat. "I'm going to be Hokage someday. It's going to take a lot more than a bunch of cloak wearing gangsters to beat me." He slowly raised his kunai, pointing it challengingly at Itachi. "Come show me what you got…"

"The boy is even more foolish than we thought if he thinks he can beat all of us," one of the other Akatsuki - a tall, shark-like looking man - said.

"This will be an easy sacrifice," another man with a giant three bladed scythe smirked. "It's been awhile since I've been able to make a suitable sacrifice to Jashin."

Itachi stared at Naruto, his blood red eyes unreadable. "Very well," he murmured. "May your foolish desire for death be an example to anyone else who tries to oppose Akatsuki."

And then, like a pack of hungry predators descending on their cornered prey, the six ninja charged the outnumbered boy; while overhead the moon continued to shine its silvery light down on the clearing in cold, ethereal indifference…

oooooo

The battle was beginning to die down. More of Konoha's ninja had finally arrived at the wall, forcing Akatsuki into a retreat. Ninja had been sent to follow them while the others stayed behind to reinforce the village's now weakened defenses and tend to the injured.

Sasuke looked around the almost deserted battlefield, still breathing hard from battle. He was covered in sweat and dirt and had a shallow cut on his cheek where one ninja had managed to get a lucky strike. Sometime ago just as other Konoha ninja had begun arriving at the wall Naruto's army of clones had suddenly disappeared. Too caught up in battle and still hoping to find his brother, Sasuke hadn't thought much of it at the time. But now, standing in the quiet aftermath of battle, he wondered where the blond whirlwind had gone. He hadn't seen any sign of Naruto since his clones had disappeared. He hoped the idiot hadn't somehow been hurt...

"Sasuke," a voice suddenly called behind him. "You hurt?"

It was Kakashi. The silver-haired jounin was coming towards him across the rubble and body-strewn battlefield. His half-masked face was speckled with blood - but not his own.

"Just a scratch," Sasuke sniffed, cleaning the blade of his kunai on his pants and slipping the weapon back in its holster. "I made sure I took care of the one that did it…"

Kakashi ignored his student's comment and looked around the moonlit battlefield. "This is troubling," he murmured. "We had a suspicion Akatsuki might try something, but we never thought they'd actually attack Konoha on such a large scale."

"Is that why all the jounin and ANBU of the village have been acting strange lately?" Sasuke asked. "They knew Akatsuki was coming?"

"Mm, unfortunately… But we still aren't exactly sure what they're after," Kakashi replied.

Sasuke turned away from his sensei, angrily looking back across the battlefield towards the darkened forest. He hadn't seen any sign of Itachi during the fight. Whether that was because his older brother had been somewhere else on the battlefield or not there at all, he didn't know. Whatever the case, Sasuke couldn't help but feel he'd once again lost his chance to avenge his family.

"You shouldn't be this far outside the village alone," Kakashi suddenly said, breaking Sasuke out of his brooding thoughts. "You know the restrictions…"

"Yeah, I know the restrictions," Sasuke hissed, contemptuously spitting out the last word. "How could I forget?"

Kakashi ignored his student and patiently motioned him back towards the village. Unable to protest, Sasuke sullenly turned and followed Kakashi. As they neared the ruined remains of the outer wall, they came within sight of swarms of medics and other ninja hurrying about. The injured and dead were quickly being carried away on stretchers while others fought to contain the numerous fires still burning along the wall and surrounding buildings.

"Kakashi!" a voice rang out.

Turning the two saw several other ninja coming toward them. It was Gai-sensei and his team. He along with Lee, Neji, and Tenten were scuffed and dirty from battle, their clothes singed in places as though they just come from trying to help put out the fires.

"What's up?" Kakashi asked as they neared.

"The Hokage sent me to find you," Gai explained. "She wants to see you immediately. She's over this way."

Motioning the two to follow him, the bushy-browed jounin quickly led Kakashi and Sasuke towards a nearby huddle of ninja. Besides Gai's team, Sasuke noticed Sakura and the two other rookie teams with their sensei amongst the group along with a number of other village ninja and four ANBU bodyguards. In the middle of all them stood the Fifth Hokage and Naruto's Sannin sensei, Jiraiya.

"Kakashi," Tsunade called as they neared, "what's your report?"

"Akatsuki forces are retreating. We currently have several ANBU squads pursuing them, but they've already taken to the forest. It's doubtful we'll catch any more of them now," Kakashi replied. "There were at least fifteen Konoha ninja killed in the attack - nine chuunin and six jounin. The number of wounded is still undetermined, as is the number of Akatsuki ninja captured or killed."

"Do we have any idea what Akatsuki was after?" Team Eight's sensei Kurenai spoke up. "They wouldn't have attacked Konoha without some kind of reason."

Sasuke thought he saw Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged a furtive, veiled look.

"We have some suspicions, but no solid proof," Tsunade hesitantly replied, her eyes shadowed with some emotion Sasuke couldn't exactly name. Worry? Or perhaps even fear?

"Did anyone else notice how none of the Akatsuki ninja attacking the gate were above jounin-level?" Asuma interjected. "Where were its S-class ninja? Despite the fact they surprised us and had us on the ropes until reinforcements arrived, they didn't have the forces necessary to actually invade the village."

"I noticed the same…" Gai agreed, his overlarge eyebrows scrunched together in the middle of his forehead.

"If it hadn't been for Naruto and that crazy clone technique of his, they probably would have gotten farther into the village then they actually did," Kurenai said.

"Hey, where is Naruto?" Sakura suddenly said, looking around the group. "He should have come back to the village by now."

Everyone looked around and noted the pink-haired koinoichi was right. There was no sign of the hyperactive shinobi anywhere…

"When was he last seen?" Jiraiya demanded, urgently stepping forward. "Who saw him last?"

"He was with me when we arrived at the gate," Sasuke said, "but we got separated during battle. I haven't seen any sign of him since his clones disappeared."

Everyone else shook their heads, unable to offer any more information.

Tsunade and Jiraiya once more looked at each other, their expressions now filled with horrified dread.

"I thought I saw one of Naruto's clones fighting two Akatsuki ninja near the forest," Kiba suddenly spoke up. "It might have actually been him though, I don't know. You can never tell with clones… He went into the forest and the other two followed him."

Full fledge panic now blossomed across the Fifth Hokage's face.

"Gather all available ninja!" she cried, starting towards the gapping hole in Konoha's wall. Her bodyguards scrambled to catch up with her. "Spread out and check the surround forest where Naruto was last seen. I want him found, now!"

Jiraiya hurried to follow her, anxiety written in each of the Sannin's steps. "You heard the Hokage!" he yelled over his shoulders to the confused group of ninja. "Find Naruto!"

For one stunned moment of silence, they just stared after them. But then, as if shaking themselves out of some kind of trance, they sprang into action, hurrying after the departing Sannin.

Sasuke felt the tiny ball of unease that'd begun to form in the bottom of his stomach suddenly grow and spread like a cancer throughout his entire body. He should have known something was wrong when Naruto's clone jutsu broke in the middle of battle, he scolded himself as he sped past the ruined walls of the village towards the looming black wall of trees in the distance. Nothing less than Naruto being severely injured or knocked unconscious could have done that. If only he'd been paying more attention to the klutz instead of worrying about finding his brother on the off chance Itachi might actually be there, then maybe his only friend wouldn't be missing...

If the jounin sensei were right and none of Akatsuki's S-class ninja were there, could that mean they'd been hiding somewhere else during the attack, waiting to carry out some other plan Konoha's ninja still knew nothing about? Something that possibly included his hyperactive friend?

Sasuke's heart seized with dread.

_Please don't let me be too late… _he silently prayed to any wandering deity close enough to hear his plea as he charged into the darkened forest. _Please don't let me lose him too._

_I don't want to be alone again…_

oooooo

Kiba Inuzuka leapt from branch to branch, struggling not to let the shifting shadows of the forest trick him into losing his footing. Hinata followed close behind him, also having trouble seeing in the darkness. Their teammate Shino was no where to be seen, probably off searching some other section of the forest with their sensei. Akamaru raced beneath them on the ground, weaving in and out of the darkened maze of trees.

As he sprang towards what he thought was another branch, but which actually proved to be nothing more than an elongated shadow, Kiba had to scramble to catch himself before he fell to the forest floor twenty feet below.

"Damn that Naruto!" he yelled as he regained his footing and pressed on deeper into the forest. "I'm going to kill that idiot when I find him! I should've just kept my big mouth shut and not said anything about seeing that idiot near the forest. Then we wouldn't be out here now risking our own necks trying to find his sorry ass!"

"But Naruto might be in trouble," Hinata plaintively whispered. "He could be hurt."

"Then serves him right," Kiba growled. "He's probably wandering his way back to the village even as we speak. I tell you when I find him I'm going to wring his neck for this. He's such a pain!"

But despite his angry threats, Kiba continued to dutifully leap from branch to branch, delving ever deeper into the forest. No matter how annoying the blond loudmouth could be, he had not forgotten the frightened look on the Hokage's face when told of Naruto's disappearance, or the almost frantic way she'd ordered him found. There was something going on she wasn't telling them. And Kiba couldn't help but feel whatever it was did not bode well for their hyperactive friend…

A sudden howl sounded below them.

"Akamaru's found a scent!" Kiba announced, leaping down several branches closer to the ground. Hinata quickly followed him as Akamaru shot like an arrow into the darkness, weaving in and out of the trees after the invisible trail.

As Kiba and Hinata chased after the giant dog, two more figures suddenly appeared beside them, matching their pace. It took them a minute to recognize the faces of Kakashi and Gai in the shadowy gloom of the forest.

"Find something?" Kakashi called. The jounin's half-masked face and slouched headband made him eerily look like one blue eye hovering in the darkness.

"Akamaru knows Naruto's scent so it's probably him," Kiba replied. "We just have to follow the trail now."

"Good job," Gai called. "Lead the way!"

Before long the four ninja saw a small clearing appear in the distance through the trees. Akamaru put on an extra burst of speed and sent up a long, keening howl.

"He's found him," Kiba yelled, leaping from the branches to the ground. The other three quickly followed his example and took off for the clearing on foot.

As they neared the tree line a strong smell suddenly filled Kiba's nose, overwhelming him with its sickly stench. He almost staggered backwards from the assault on his sensitive nose. The dog-ninja immediately recognized it. He had smelled it many times before, just never in so large an amount as now.

It was the smell of blood. Sharp, metallic-smelling blood…

Kiba felt his stomach twist in the bottom of his gut as a cold wave of dread washed over him.

Akamaru had stopped ahead of them just short of the clearing. The dog's head was held low to the ground, his tail tucked firmly between his legs. A low whimper whined deep inside his throat.

The other ninja also seemed to sense something off and slowed as they neared. The clearing was quiet, bathed in silvery moonlight. One might have almost said it looked serene. But what the four ninja saw when they finally reached the tree line and saw the scene spread out before them, any thoughts of beauty or poetry were immediately banished from their minds.

Gai and Kakashi stepped back in horror while Kiba fought with himself not to lose the meager contents of his stomach as the overwhelming stench of blood once again assaulted him, coating his nostrils with the sticky scent of gore. Beside him, Hinata's pupil-less eyes widened, her face crumbling in despair. Then helplessly shaking her head as if in denial of the horrible sight she beheld, she let out a long and agonized scream…

oooooo

Sasuke crashed through the dark foliage of the trees, not caring anything about secrecy or stealth. His heart hammered madly in his chest, dread rising in the back of his throat like tar. Not more than a few minutes ago he'd heard a terrified scream echo through the forest. The scream was young and feminine, but somehow he knew it had something to do with Naruto…

Racing in the direction he'd heard the scream Sasuke suddenly saw a small clearing appear in the distance. As he neared he noticed several other people already there. From what he could see through the trees it looked like Kakashi and Gai-sensei along with Hinata and Kiba from Team Eight. He sprang to the ground and ran for the tree line at a sprint, desperately hoping his fears would ultimately be proved unfounded.

But when he finally reached the edge of trees and saw the horrific scene displayed before him, the Uchiha heir froze, all his hopes and prayers shattering like a fragile piece of glass somewhere deep inside him.

The entire clearing was covered in blood. There was hardly a patch of grass left unstained by the gory mess. On the trunks of several trees surrounding the clearing smears and splatters of red shined darkly in the moonlight. Pieces of torn flesh and trailing viscera lay everywhere like the strewn toys of some disobedient child.

In the middle of the clearing a mutilated body lay facedown on the ground, marinating in a sticky pool of blood. Its clothes and hair were so soaked with blood their original colors couldn't be determined. Its limbs jutted from its body at odd angles, none of them natural. Sasuke couldn't tell from the distance but he thought he saw one arm actually laying several feet away from the rest of its disfigured body.

Like a sickening wave, unbidden memories rose in the back of Sasuke's mind, reminding him of that terrifying night so many years ago when his older brother had massacred their entire family. He suddenly remembered with sickening clarity the bodies littering the floors of his family's mansion - laying where they'd fallen in their death throes as Itachi had cut them down - the unnerving stillness of the dead, but most of all the blood…

Oh gods, the blood…

He could never erase that image from his mind. It still haunted his memories - that sticky feeling of half-dried blood on his hands as he'd tried to wake his parents from their unnatural sleep. He could still feel that blood on his hands even now, forever staining them with something he could never hope to wash away.

_No… Not again… _he silently begged, shakily stepping into the blood-spattered clearing. _Please not again…_

He began to move towards the body, his footsteps slow and hesitant.

_Please not again…_

"No, Sasuke," Kakashi said, suddenly appearing in front of him and blocking his path. The jounin's voice was heavy and laced with undeniable pain. "You don't have to see this…"

"Get out of my way, Kakashi," Sasuke snarled, trying to side-step the jounin. "That's not him. It can't be! The idiot's just lost somewhere in the forest. It's not him."

"Sasuke, please," Kakashi begged, desperately trying to hold his student back. "You don't want to see this."

"Get out of my way!" Sasuke cried, angrily pushing past Kakashi. "That's not him! It's not Naruto!"

As if unable to muster the willpower to try and stop Sasuke again or already knowing such an attempt would only be in vain, Kakashi silently stepped aside, his masked face solemnly bowed to his chest.

His path once again unhindered, Sasuke began to move towards the blood-soaked body. Behind him somewhere on the edge of the clearing he could hear Hinata quietly sobbing into her hands. His feet seemed to carry him closer to the grisly scene on their own accord. He didn't want to look just like Kakashi had said; he was frightened of what he might see. But he couldn't seem to make himself stop. He had to know…

Nearing the body, Sasuke gingerly stepped inside the pool of blood surrounding it and knelt beside the mutilated corpse. The overwhelming smell of death invaded his nostrils like a noxious gas. He had to fight with himself not to cover his mouth or turn away. Now close enough to see, Sasuke saw whoever had killed the victim had brutally sliced the person's stomach open, almost cutting the poor soul in half. He had to look away from the wet, shiny pile of innards laying splattered beneath the body's disemboweled stomach. As he knelt in the still warm puddle of blood, Sasuke saw that the body's face was turned down into the ground, hiding its features from view.

Slowly, hesitantly, Sasuke reached out and slipped his hands underneath the body's head. As he gently lifted the lifeless weight up off the ground he was sickened by the way the vertebras in the neck rolled and twisted between his palms - the unmistakable sign of a broken neck.

He slowly turned the head to the side, exposing the bloodstained face beneath - and felt the last tiny thread of hope he'd been holding onto snap like a brittle piece of string deep inside him.

A strangled cry of despair slipped from Sasuke's lips and echoed into the night. He felt his eyes begin to sting as he stared into the sightless blue eyes staring back at him from the red-smeared face. In the moonlight he could now make out several strands of light blond hair framing the pain-twisted face he held in his hands, somehow miraculously unstained by the surrounding lake of blood.

"No…" he moaned, shaking his head angrily in denial. "No. No, no, no…"

_No… Please not again. Please don't let this be real. Please no…_

But no matter how hard Sasuke tried to deny the horrible truth of what he saw, nothing could change the identity of the one whose mutilated body he knelt beside or whose bloody head he cradled in his hands.

It was Naruto. The hyperactive knucklehead of Konoha. Self-proclaimed future Hokage, and klutz extraordinaire. His one and only friend…

Sasuke felt hot burning tears suddenly flood the corners of his eyes, threatening to overflow his stoic mask. He felt emotions long thought dead rise up inside him, pulling and tearing at his already bleeding heart.

His only friend was dead, brutally murdered. Killed. Gone…

Pain so intense it felt like he was being torn apart inside assailed the boy.

But before the Sasuke could succumb to grief or shock, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye something laying in the moonlight just outside the pool of blood surrounding his friend's body. Looking closer he felt his stomach twist at the sight of the object he beheld.

It was a paper fan, its paddle the same shade of red as the very pool of blood he knelt in. The same kind of fan that made the Uchiha family crest and was embossed on the back of all his clothes…

Shakingly picking it up, Sasuke held the seemingly out of place object up in front of him. For a moment he couldn't understand its presence there in the clearing beside his friend's dead body. But then like being punched in the gut, he understood.

It was a message. A message left to him from the very one he'd been so determined to find earlier that evening during that attack.

_Itachi…_

Sasuke felt hot, burning, helpless anger boil up inside him. Without realizing it he was crushing the fan in half, its wooden spines crackling under the pressure. He felt several of its broken ribs pierce his skin, blood pouring down his palm to mingle with the blood already staining his hands. But Sasuke couldn't bring himself to care. The pain in his hand was nothing compared to the pain now throbbing like a poison through his entire body. He'd once again failed to stop his brother. He'd once again failed to be there to protect the ones he cared for.

He'd failed yet again. And this time it had been his best friend Naruto - the only one that'd ever seemed to care or understand him - that'd had to pay the price for his failure. Itachi had once again won...

Sasuke's stoic façade suddenly seemed to crumble, his face morphing into an expression of utter anguish and despair. Then tilting his head back he screamed his misery to the pitiless night sky above. And for the first time in as long as he could remember he let the tears of loneliness, pain, and loss finally fall…

oooooo

The moon hung low in the sky, shedding its light on the quiet land below. The forest was for the most part silent - the village Hidden in the Leaves now many miles away - except for one small group of cloaked figures stealthfully making their way through the shadowy trees towards the western border of the Fire country.

"Ow… I think he hit a vein. I really do. What if I bleed to death before we make it back to headquarters?"

"Then it would serve you right for being stupid enough to let that brat get close enough to get a strike on you. You're such a disgrace to the name Akatsuki. I don't know who ever thought of actually letting you be called one of its elite."

"But, Deidara-sempai," Tobi whined, cradling his bleeding arm against his chest, "he was faster than I thought. And I didn't know he had that second kunai. Anyone could have been caught by surprise."

"Be quiet," Hidan snarled, hoisting his three-bladed scythe angrily up onto his shoulder. "You're incessant jabbering is starting to get on my nerves."

"You're just angry because you didn't get to do that little ritual of your," Deidara shot back, shooting the silver-haired ninja a dirty look.

"At least you don't have to put up with it every time we go on a mission," Hidan's partner, Kakuzu, said.

"You shouldn't make fun of another person's religion," Hidan growled. "It's bad karma."

"Be quiet, all of you," another suddenly said from the head of the group, instantly silencing the rest of them. He slowly turned around to spear them all with blood-red, tomoe-dotted eyes. "You knew from the beginning, Hidan, that this was not a killing mission. Our mission was to capture the demon-vessel and bring him back to headquarters alive."

The other four shifted uneasily under Itachi's baleful gaze - feeling as if he was somehow looking through them down into their very souls - before the missing Leaf-nin slowly turned towards his partner, Kisame, and the unconscious blond figure draped over the shark-man's shoulder. The estranged Uchiha smirked evilly and ran the tip of his right index finger down the narrow seal-scroll pasted across his captive's forehead, lovingly tracing the complex Sanskrit characters written there.

"It's a shame I can't be there to see my little brother's face when he finds his friend's body," he softly mused, tracing his finger now across a bruised, whisker-marked cheek. "It's such a waste not to see the effects of our hard work play out…"

"Itachi-sempai," Tobi hesitantly spoke up, "did we really have to go to such… dramatic lengths with the body? I mean, doesn't it all seem rather excessive?"

"No," Itachi replied, his tone indifferent. "I wanted to leave a lasting reminder for my little brother that he will never stop me, no matter how hard he tries. And what better way to prove that then with the blood of his own friend staining his hands? There's also no longer any reason to worry about Konoha sending ninja to rescue the boy. He's now ours to do with as we wish."

Then giving his captive one more appraising look, Itachi turned - and with his companions following close behind - disappeared into the inky darkness, carrying with them Naruto's bound and unconscious form far away from everything he knew that was familiar, warm, or safe.

To Be Continued…

I guess the biggest question on everyone's mind now is how was there a body for Sasuke to find while Itachi had Naruto with him. Well, I promise that'll be explained later, but first I must know how people liked this chapter.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	3. And the Dead Shall Return

**Chapter Three: And the Dead Shall Return**

Days turned into weeks, and weeks slowly turned into months. The green leaves of summer soon turned to the golds and reds of fall, which later blew away in the icy winds of winter. Spring saw the return of green to the land of Fire, but some things - no matter how many seasons passed - could not be healed by the passage of time.

The village's defensive wall was rebuilt soon after the Akatsuki attack, and funerals held for those killed in combat. The stone memorial remembering Konoha's fallen saw the addition of sixteen names following that fateful attack, but none as tragic as the name of the youngest ninja of that group - one who years before had unknowingly boasted his name would one day be on that monument…

Naruto Uzumaki's death resonated deep inside the hearts of all those that knew him. His funeral was small - less than two dozen people in attendance - but it was certainly the most heartfelt. Eulogies remembering the blond prankster and his more memorable moments were given, and more than a few tears were shed.

For many months afterward, the pain of the young shinobi's death remained a lingering hurt for those left behind. But while many were able to come to terms with their loss and move on with their day to day lives, one in particular could not seem to escape the sorrow of his best friend's murder.

Although already isolated and a loner by nature, Sasuke became even more withdrawn after Naruto's death. He continued to go on missions and do his duties like any other Konoha ninja, but as Kakashi noticed in the days following Naruto's death, there was no longer any shine of life in the Uchiha heir's eyes. Like the living dead, Sasuke went through the days doing what he was suppose to do, but nothing more. He got up in the mornings, he went on missions, he trained, he ate, he slept. But that was it. Friendless and alone, not even revenge seemed enough to give the boy a reason to live. Kakashi could never get Sasuke to open up to him or talk about what happened, but he suspected the boy somehow blamed himself for his friend's untimely death. It was almost like with Naruto's death, something had also died inside of Sasuke…

Life however continued to move on despite personal tragedy or grief, and a new threat to Konoha arose.

After its initial attack, Akatsuki began to more actively threaten the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Raids and small attacks became such a common occurrence along Konoha's borders that many were fearful to venture outside the village's protective walls. The Hokage ordered an increase of ninja posted on the borders and around the village, but Akatsuki always seemed able to sneak past them and make a strike before retreating once again to plan their next attack.

To make matters worse, as if sensing Konoha's weakening defenses, the Hidden Village of Sound also began to make threats against the village. Their resources already stretched thin from fighting off Akatsuki, Konoha began to falter under the growing strain of fighting a two fronted war.

That spring, nine months after Akatsuki's first major attack, they attacked again, this time destroying a large section of the village and killing more than twenty Konoha ninja in the ensuing battle. The Leaf-nin were able to beat back Akatsuki in time before they could get far into the village, but not without heavy losses.

Unable to passively stand by any longer, it was decided that Konoha had to go on the offensive and attack Akatsuki itself. Only a few days after Akatsuki's second attack one of Konoha's scouts in a brilliant stroke of luck happened to discover a small Akatsuki stronghold hidden in the mountains just outside the Fire country's western border.

Mustering their weakened forces of all available ninja from chuunin level up, and accompanied by their ally Sand - whose Kazekage, Gaara, had vowed to aid the Leaf Village in revenge for his fallen friend Naruto - Konoha moved out on the Akatsuki stronghold, determined to put an end to the crime organization's reign of terror once and for all…

oooooo

Iruka Umino angrily kicked the ground. His hands were clenched in two fists by his sides. Around him ninja from both Sand and Konoha moved about tending to the wounded and carrying away the dead. In front of him, like a looming black abyss, stood the entrance of Akatsuki's secret lair. Its giant stone doors were open, offering passage deep into the very mountain it'd been carved out of. But while ninja streamed in and out of the enemy stronghold, none of them were Akatsuki.

Iruka scuffed the ground again, struggling to contain his helpless burst of rage.

While Sand and Konoha had successfully caught Akatsuki unawares and dispatched a number of enemy ninja in the subsequent battle that'd followed their arrival, none of the ninja they'd fought had been above average jounin level. From what they could tell, if any Akatsuki S-class ninja had been inside the stronghold during the raid, they'd all escaped through some secret back tunnel along with a number of their other agents, leaving their weaker members behind to create a diversion. So even though they'd captured and killed a large number of Akatsuki's forces, the escape of so many important ninja made their victory not as meaningful.

Iruka gave a heavy sigh. He'd been so hopeful they'd finally be able to put a stop to Akatsuki, or at least deal it a crippling blow. But all it seemed they'd been able to do was force its more powerful ninja into retreating to a different (and probably even more secure) location. Konoha had put so much of its dwindling resources into mounting this attack it was doubtful they'd be able to do it again even if they did find another Akatsuki lair. It just felt so hopeless. After Akatsuki's first attack on the village, Konoha had been faced with one problem after another. If something didn't change soon, Iruka had no illusions about Konoha eventually succumbing to their enemies' growing power…

The academy sensei moved through the crowd of other ninja milling in front of the stronghold's doors. The battle was long since over and a number of Akatsuki's ninja captured. All that remained now was to search the empty stronghold for any remaining ninja, and anything else Konoha might be able to use against the missing-nin crime organization.

A large group of Sand and Leaf ninja had begun to form in front of the doors. At the head of the group stood the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, and Sand's Kazekage, Gaara. The boy's arms were darkly crossed in front of his chest, his giant gourd silhouetting his slender frame. His face was blank of all emotions, but Iruka couldn't help but imagine there was an aura of disgruntled disappointment surrounding the stoic Sand-nin.

"Ninja will spread out through the structure and secure all other entrances and exits," Tsunade was saying, her voice carrying loudly over the gathered coalition of Sand and Leaf. "There is still the possibility of Akatsuki ninja hiding inside, so teams of two or more are recommended. Searches will start in the main chamber and branch out into other passages. Are there any questions?" There was silence from the assembled group of ninja. "Good. Now move out!"

"Show no mercy to any Akatsuki-nin you find that try to resist," Gaara added in a dangerously low voice.

A chorus of shouts answered the Kazekage's order, and the group of ninja began to move towards the doors.

Iruka followed his comrades through the foreboding stone gates and into a large cavern-like antechamber beyond. On the far side of the chamber, through the inky gloom, Iruka could make out the dark outline of a gigantic statue in the shape of two hands rising out of the ground towards the ceiling, its wrists bound together by shackles. The rough-hewn walls of the chamber, he also noted, were scorched black in places as if by some kind of intense, raging fire. The pungent smell of stale blood lingered heavily in the air.

Iruka suppressed a shudder. He did not want to know what kind of things had gone on in this chamber. After what they'd done to Naruto - his favorite student who over the years had come to hold such a large place in his heart - Iruka was not about to doubt what kind of ruthless horrors Akatsuki was capable of. Even now, months after Naruto's death, it still haunted the chuunin sensei's mind to think of what kind of horrors and pain the happy vivacious boy had suffered in his last few minutes of life…

The other ninja were beginning to divide and separate down the many other passages that branched off the main chamber. A narrow patch of darkness stood off to Iruka's right - a small tunnel leading down into utter darkness. It didn't look like any of the other ninja had gone to search it yet. He began to move towards it.

"Where are you going?"

Iruka startled and spun around in surprise towards the deceptively quiet voice behind him. Standing there not half a dozen feet away was none other than the red-haired Kazekage of Sand, Gaara. His arms, as usual, were crossed in front of his chest, his expression emotionless.

"I thought your Hokage said to stay in groups of two or more," he said. His black-rimmed eyes seemed to stare right down into Iruka, as if looking into his very soul. "Agents of Akatsuki might still be here. It's dangerous to be alone."

"My teammates were injured in battle and had to be taken back to the village," Iruka replied. Despite his best efforts not to, the chuunin shifted uneasily under the Kazekage's piercing gaze, unnerved to be in the presence of the same boy who less than three years ago had entered the chuunin exams expecting to brutally beat out all other competition, and had almost permanently crippled one of the other participants in the semi-finals of the second round.

For several moments of endless silence the two just stared at each other. Iruka couldn't help but feel the boy was somehow trying to place his face when suddenly-

"You were Naruto's sensei." It was not a question.

Iruka blinked in surprise. "Yes. I was his instructor at the academy."

Gaara gave an almost imperceptible nod. "He mentioned you once to me. He seemed to hold you in high esteem."

For reasons Iruka couldn't quite explain, he felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. It'd been so long since he'd heard another mention the blond whirlwind. Most that knew Naruto had taken his death so hard that few could speak about him without somehow being reminded of the brutal way he'd died. Even Kakashi seemed reluctant to talk about his old student or what he'd found that night after Akatsuki's first attack.

"Thank you," Iruka murmured, not quite trusting himself to meet Gaara's eyes. "He was a special student to me. I held him in very high esteem too…"

Another almost imperceptible nod from the red-haired boy. "If you plan to search that tunnel, then you will need someone else to go with you. I will accompany you. Naruto would not have wanted you killed while in pursuit of those that killed him."

Iruka suddenly didn't seem to mind the other boy's presence as much, and together he and Gaara started down the passage. A little ways down burning torches appeared along the walls, creating small pools of light at regular intervals along the pitch black hallway.

As the two delved deeper into the living heart of the mountain, they came across a series of thick metal doors lining one side of the tunnel. Iruka tried the handle of one, which reluctantly squeaked open on rusty hinges to reveal a tiny stone room beyond. On the far wall a pair of metal shackles dangled ominously from the ceiling. A patch of dried blood stained one corner of the floor a dark, rusty brown.

"Dungeons," Gaara murmured. His emotionless voice echoed eerily though the empty cell.

Iruka silently backed back out of the room, a sickening feeling of revulsion churning the bottom of his stomach. He had no desire to know what had happened to the unfortunate soul that'd once inhabited this cell…

The two solemnly continued farther down the passage, checking all the doors of the cells they passed. Suddenly, they came across one locked from the outside by a thick iron padlock. Iruka leaned closer to examine it.

"This one wouldn't be locked unless there was someone inside," he murmured thoughtfully.

Gaara said nothing in response.

Taking out a kunai, the chuunin drew it back over his shoulder and brought it soundly down on the lock. The padlock shattered, falling in pieces to the floor. Replacing his kunai, Iruka pushed the door open and let the flickering light of the torch behind them spill into the room.

A lone figure lay in the middle of the room. Its back was towards the door, its wrists and ankles bound. From what Iruka could tell, the prisoner was male, but it was hard to say for sure from the sorry state he was in. Clad in only tattered black pants, the prisoner's emaciated back was covered in welts, burns, bruises, and half-healed cuts - the obvious signs of torture. Matted, dirty blond hair lay beneath the person's head on the filthy stone floor.

Iruka quickly hurried inside the room and knelt beside the person. Gaara silently followed after him but stood several feet away near the door, arms crossed, as though indifferent to the poor soul they'd just found.

"Oh gods…" Iruka hissed as he reached out and placed a gentle hand on the person's back. "He's freezing." Undoing the buttons of his chuunin vest, he shrugged it off and draped it over the figure's skeletal shoulders. "Kazekage, please help me. I have to turn him over."

Gaara reluctantly uncrossed his arms and stepped closer. Squatting down beside the chuunin, the two of them gently slid their hands under the prisoner's knees and shoulders and rolled him towards them. The prisoner barely weighed a thing and limply came over in their arms, his head lifelessly lolling back to reveal a pale, dirt-smeared face.

For a moment Iruka thought he was hallucinating - that the dim shadows of the room were somehow playing tricks on him.

There was no way the one laying there was the one he thought it was. There was just no possible way!

Half frozen with shock, Iruka was only partially aware of Gaara beside him. Somehow through his startled daze though, he noticed the Kazekage's eyes widen and his mouth fall partially open - the first true sign of emotions he'd seen on the boy's face since meeting him.

Shakily reaching down, Iruka traced a fingertip along one whisker-marked cheek, as if to prove to himself what he saw was really real. The skin beneath his fingers was cold and gritty with who knew how many months of grime. But it was tangible and real, just like the gentle stir of breath whispering against his chest between dry, blood-crackled lips - living proof that what he saw was not some kind of painful illusion.

It was then that Iruka let the almost painful hope that'd begun to build in his chest finally surge forward, washing over him like a dizzying tidal wave of happiness, disbelief, and shock…

oooooo

Sasuke watched the coalition of Sand and Leaf ninja move around the entrance of the cave with distracted disdain. Behind him a number of Akatsuki ninja sat in a small huddle with their hands and feet tied while a team of heavily armed ANBU stood watch over them. Sweeping his eyes over the captured ninja, Sasuke was once again angered to note there was absolutely no sign of his elusive older brother Itachi anywhere amongst them. He'd even checked the pile of Akatsuki dead on the off chance that some other ninja had come across him in battle and killed the murderous rogue, but it seemed Itachi had once again managed to slip away between their fingers…

Sasuke's hands unconsciously clenched into fists as he turned and walked away. From what he'd overheard others saying there hadn't been any sign of Akatsuki S-class ninja anywhere during battle. It looked like all of them had somehow escaped before or right after they'd gotten there.

Hot boiling anger - one of the few emotions he was still able to feel besides lonely emptiness - welled up inside Sasuke, filling the hollow void that had become his soul. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he had actually felt alive and not like an animated corpse. When he'd heard about the Hokage's plans to attack Akatsuki, he'd felt like he might once again have a reason to live. But now that feeling was once again gone…

After Naruto's murder, revenge had suddenly seemed like a luxury he was no longer entitled to. He had failed to be there to stop his brother. Even after years of training to get strong enough to defeat Itachi he still hadn't been able to protect his friend. He was a failure. He didn't deserve to have the satisfaction of ending his brother's life in revenge when it was his fault his friend was dead in the first place…

"Sasuke!" a voice suddenly called out. "Sasuke, where are you going?"

It was Kakashi. The jounin was coming towards him across the chakra-scorched battlefield.

"The Hokage's ordered the cave searched. We could use your help," he said, finally coming to a stop in front of his student.

Sasuke just shook his head, unable to meet Kakashi's eye. "No. You have enough ninja already. You don't need me. I'm going back to Konoha. This was nothing but a waste of time."

"You know that isn't true," Kakashi said. "We might not have caught any of Akatsuki's higher ups, but we did deal it a major blow. They lost at least a hundred ninja in this attack."

"And how many ninja did we lose?" Sasuke bitterly shot back, his empty black eyes boring into Kakashi. "It doesn't matter how many agents we capture or kill, Akatsuki will just keep recruiting more. We have to get its S-class ninja if we're ever going to stop them once and for all."

"Sasuke…" Kakashi sighed, sensing what was really weighing on the younger shinobi's mind. "There was never any guarantee Itachi was going to be here. It might take awhile, but we will catch him someday and make him pay for what he's done."

Like a smoldering fire suddenly roaring back to life, Sasuke's eyes flashed with an almost maniacal look of rage. "Don't you dare mention his name!" he snarled, his hands clenched into fists by his sides. "I don't want to ever hear that bastard's name again!"

Reaching out, Kakashi tried to put a calming hand on his student's shoulder. "Sasuke-"

"Don't touch me!" he hissed, leaping out of the jounin's reach. He slowly began to back away, his face warped with angry pain. "I'm going back to the village. There's nothing left for me to do here. This was nothing but a waste of time." Then leaping into the overhanging branches of the trees, the boy disappeared from sight, almost like a shadow blending back into the night.

Left to stare after the angry boy, Kakashi could do nothing more than sigh in hopeless frustration, wondering if anything could ever heal the wounds Sasuke still so painfully bore inside…

oooooo

"Forty-three of our ninja were injured in battle, Lady Hokage," one of Tsunade's strategists said as he handed her a report. "All the wounded that could not immediately be treated here on the battlefield are being transported back to the village. Sand's injured are also being taken there for treatment. Between the two villages, there are at least thirty-nine reported dead."

"And Akatsuki?" Tsunade asked. "How many of their ninja did we get?"

The strategist unrolled a tiny scroll from his vest pocket and scanned down a list of numbers. "We counted sixty-two Akatsuki dead, eighteen injured, and more than twenty-five captured. It appears many of the ones that died were injured during battle and would have survived their wounds, but chose to bite down on cyanide capsules and commit suicide rather than being taken alive. The ones we did capture were only stopped because the ninja that caught them managed to search them in time for poison capsules. We currently have a team of ANBU watching them until we can transport them back to the village for questioning."

Tsunade sighed and wearily massaged the pinch of skin between her eyes. "Very well. Continue searching the cave for anymore ninja. If we find the exit the rest of Akatsuki used to escape, I want several teams sent after them. We have them on the run, so let's keep up the pressure."

The strategist gave a bow and scurried away into the surrounding chaos to pass on her orders. As teams of Leaf and Sand ninja continued to hurry in and out of the cave around her, Tsunade gave another sigh and rubbed her forehead as if she could feel the twinges of an oncoming headache.

"Are you alright, Tsunade?" Jiraiya's voice drifted through her troubled thoughts. The Toad Sage stood close beside her, like a solid pillar of support.

Looking up, Tsunade gave her old teammate a wan smile. "I'm fine," she said, although the reassurance seemed rather weak. "It's just that this attack took more out of me than I thought it would. As much as I don't like to admit it, I can't help but feel I'm starting to get too old for this kind of stuff."

"You're not the only one," Jiraiya replied, his expression distant as he stared across the empty battlefield. "You and I, our times are past, yet we keep on living while younger, more able-bodied ninja keep dying around us every day. It's one of life's crueler ironies…"

Tsunade studied her old teammate for a moment out of the corner of her eye. "Philosophy doesn't suit you, Jiraiya," she said, her voice heavy with unwanted memories. "You make too much sense when you talk like that. Stick with your smutty romance novels where you're better acquainted."

Jiraiya chuckled softly under his breath, but it was empty of any actual mirth.

As the two Sannin watched ninja hurry in and out of the cave, Tsunade happened to see Kakashi making his way back across the battlefield towards them, his hands dejectedly stuffed in his pockets.

"Kakashi!" she called, motioning him over to her. "Where's Sasuke? I thought you were going to get him to help with the searches."

"I did, but it seems he was rather disappointed by the raid and decided to go back to the village. He's in a somewhat darker mood than usual right now."

Tsunade nodded sadly. "I think we're all kind of disappointed right now by how the raid turned out. But I can understand why he might be more disappointed than most. Itachi has proven to be one of Akatsuki's harder ninja to track…"

Despite her initial dislike for the boy, Tsunade's opinion of the Uchiha prodigy had softened somewhat after that night of Akatsuki's first attack. She had heard from several different people how badly Sasuke had taken his friend's death and how Kakashi had had to physically pull the grieving boy away from Naruto's mutilated body to calm him down. She still remembered with heart-breaking clarity the empty look in Sasuke's eyes several days later at Naruto's funeral as he'd stood there staring at the tiny white box that contained the hyperactive shinobi's ashes. If she hadn't known better she would have almost said they were the eyes of a living corpse…

She couldn't explain why the boy seemed so distraught over Naruto's death when he himself had almost killed Naruto two years before, but there was no denying the sincerity of the youngest Uchiha's despair…

For several minutes Tsunade stood there in silence, lost in painful nostalgic memories. But just then a commotion near the doors of the cave suddenly caught her attention and startled her back to the present.

As Tsunade watched, ninja moving about the entrance separated to either side of the doors, parting like water in their hurry to get out of the way. At first she didn't understand what was going on until she suddenly saw the red-haired figure of Sand's Kazekage, Gaara, appear in the doorway. The boy was breathing hard, his black-rimmed eyes unnaturally round. The strap of his giant gourd was slipping halfway off his shoulder, but he hardly seemed to notice. If Tsunade didn't know better, she would have almost said he looked panicked - or at least what would pass for panic on the stoic boy.

"What the hell…?" Jiraiya murmured beside her.

Pausing in the doorway, Gaara quickly scanned the surrounding area as if searching for someone. Suddenly, his eyes came to rest on her and his face warped into an expression of even more unfamiliar emotions.

"Hokage," he yelled, his voice echoing loudly over the field of now silent, watching ninja. "Call for medics."

"Gaara, what's going on?" a young Sand kunoichi - the Kazekage's sister, Temari - demanded. "What happened?" Her other brother Kankuro stood not far behind her, his own expression tinged with worry from Gaara's strange behavior.

Gaara however didn't have time to explain, for just at that moment, stepping into the light behind him, appeared the chuunin academy instructor Iruka with a limp body cradled in his arms.

"HOKAGE!" the chuunin screamed, gently easing the one he was carrying down onto the ground and kneeling beside it. Supporting the person's upper body against his chest, Iruka hugged the person close, as though trying to offer what little protection and warmth he could. As Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi hurried towards him, she saw that whoever Iruka had found had been hastily bundled in the chuunin instructor's vest.

"Iruka, what's going on?" she demanded, drawing near the distraught sensei and his unconscious charge. "Who is that? What hap-?" But she never got a chance to finish her sentence as she finally saw the face of Iruka's charge - and stopped dead in her tracks several feet away.

Jiraiya and Kakashi also froze, struck immobile by the sight of the one they beheld. Tsunade covered her mouth with both hands, stifling a cry of shock.

"No…" she whispered, shaking her head weakly as her eyes widened in disbelief. "There's no possible way…"

But there was no denying the identity of the one Iruka hugged so tightly to his chest as though unwilling to release his hold on the boy for fear of him suddenly disappearing. Although emaciated and covered with months of dirt and grime, Tsunade recognized the painfully familiar features of the one laying there like the ghost of some distant memory suddenly come back to life.

"N-Naruto?" she stammered. She was suddenly able to move again, and before she knew it she was kneeling beside Iruka on the ground, her hands hovering over the frail blond figure in his arms as though afraid to actually touch him. Jiraiya and Kakashi were not far behind her and before long there was a small crowd huddled around the unexplainably alive boy, all of them whispering in stunned tones.

"How?" Tsunade demanded, her voice weak with shock as she tentatively brushed a section of dirty bangs from Naruto's face. "How is this possible?"

"The Kazekage and I were searching the cave and came across a number of cells," Iruka explained, struggling to speak coherently through his lingering shock. He'd begun rocking Naruto's painfully thin body back and forth in his arms as though trying to somehow comfort the unconscious boy. "We found him inside one of them..."

"This is impossible," Kakashi murmured, staring at his old student as though he still couldn't believe what he saw. "He was killed in an Akatsuki attack. We all saw his body..."

"It doesn't matter if it's possible or not," Jiraiya said, stepping closer. With unforeseen gentleness the burly Toad Sage reached out and shakily carded his fingers through Naruto's hair, letting the grimy blond strands reassure him what he saw was really real. "He's still alive…"

Her shock slowly beginning to fade into a lingering daze, the more clinical side of Tsunade began to take over. Running her hands over Naruto's face and body she pressed two fingers to the underside of the boy's jaw.

"His pulse is weak," she announced, now peeling back one eyelid to reveal an empty blue orb beneath, "as is his breathing. His pupils are dilated which indicate he's gone into some kind of state of shock, and it looks like he's suffering from mild hypothermia. We have to get him to a hospital now."

Without needing any other kind of prompting, Iruka bundled Naruto's unconscious form to him and lifted him into his arms. The boy's head and legs dangled limply over his elbows. Then turning towards the tree line Iruka took off in the direction of Konoha, his student held protectively against his chest. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Gaara all followed after him, while behind them a deafening silence of stunned disbelief hung over the heads of everyone else left behind…

To Be Continued…

I was debating for awhile who should be the ones to actually find Naruto, but for some reason I just couldn't get the image of an unlikely team up of Gaara and Iruka finding him. It just seemed proper that Iruka be the one of the ones to find him after all. Any thoughts?

PLEASE REVIEW!


	4. Reunion

**Chapter Four: Reunion**

Sasuke trudged slowly through the streets of Konoha. His head was bowed and shoulders hunched as if he carried some kind of heavy weight on them. No longer was there any hint of the Uchiha's superior aplomb or grace. All anyone watching at that moment would have seen was the broken remains of a lonely boy crushed under the weight of Life's cruel injustices.

Sasuke hardly seemed to know where he was going. He just let his feet carry him wherever they may. There was no reason to care about where he was going anyway. Nothing mattered anymore…

For a brief moment of time, he'd once again had a purpose to live: to hunt down his older brother and avenge the deaths of his best friend and family - to finally make Itachi pay. But just like every other time he'd tried to stop his murderous brother the bastard had managed to slip away at the last minute and escape.

Years ago, Sasuke would have been a towering storm of rage right now - stomping around and on the verge on killing anyone stupid enough to come near him. But now getting mad just seemed like too much effort. The cold emptiness in his heart seemed to suck all other emotions from his body, leaving him hollow and numb inside. This latest attempt to find his brother just proved once again he was too weak to avenge those he'd lost. That he was a failure…

The boy bowed his head, fighting to keep back the swell of self-loathing and disgust in the back of his throat. It was his fault Naruto was dead. If only he'd been there sooner, the blond whirlwind might still be alive. If he'd just kept a closer eye on the idiot instead of worrying about finding Itachi, then he might not have had to find Naruto's mutilated corpse in the middle of that blood-soaked clearing…

He could still feel his friend's blood coating his hands. He might not have been the one to actually break Naruto's neck or slash a razor-sharp blade across his stomach, but he knew deep down he was just as responsible for the blond shinobi's death as Itachi himself. If only he hadn't been so obsessed with finding Itachi, or had been watching Naruto's back instead of being so consumed with his own hatred and revenge, then maybe his friend would still be alive today, laughing and joking there beside him like he was so often wont to do…

An almost painful rush of sorrow assaulted Sasuke - memories of the blond shinobi rising in the back of his mind like restless spirits of the dead - but somehow the boy managed to keep his composure. Although his heart felt like one massive throbbing wound, he refused to give himself the comfort of letting any tears fall. He hadn't cried since that fateful night in the clearing. He didn't deserve to cry. It was his fault Naruto was dead in the first place. It seemed only proper that he should have to silently bear this pain even though such a punishment was hardly adequate a price to pay for the horrible crime he was guilty of.

The boy continued to aimlessly walk for some time, guilt haunting his every step. The streets were for the most part empty - most of Konoha's ninja population still on the border at the Akatsuki stronghold, while the rest of the villagers seemed to be waiting in tense anticipation for word on the battle. As Sasuke neared the main market area of the village however he came within sight of a number of people.

A crowd had begun to form off to one side of the street - a number of stall vendors and citizens gathering in what looked like a small gossip circle. He saw two Leaf forehead protectors amongst the crowd and could only assume they were either gennin or ninja that'd already returned to the village from the raid like he had.

Not one for rumors or the local gossip mill, Sasuke was about to walk past them without even a second glance. But just as he was about to pass them he happened to catch a snippet of one of the ninja talking, and stopped dead in his tracks.

"… were searching the cave for anymore Akatsuki and found a prisoner locked in a cell," the ninja was saying, loudly reciting his tale to his audience. "Supposedly it was the Kazekage and one of our ninja that found him. But what you'll never guess is who it is they found." The ninja gave a dramatic pause, his audience of shopkeepers and housewives all leaning forward in suspense.

"It was the fox-boy!" his companion excitedly exclaimed, as if unable to take the suspense anymore himself. "You know, the Kyuubi vessel!"

An audible gasp came from the captivated group of villagers.

"But I thought he was killed last summer in an Akatsuki attack," one woman spoke up, her tone doubtful.

"No. It was him they found, without a doubt," the second ninja said, shaking his head excitedly. "The Hokage saw him herself and started giving orders for him to be brought back here. She's looking him over now in the hospital. Even the Kazekage came back with her as an escort. Do you know the Kazekage and that fox-boy were supposedly friends before everyone thought he died?"

The group of ninja and villagers continued talking - hypothesizing the possible relationship between the two demon vessels and how the boy had miraculously come back from the dead - but Sasuke heard no more of what they said. For he had already sped off some time ago in the direction of Konoha's hospital.

oooooo

"I need bandages and water," Tsunade said, her tone harsh and clipped as she examined her unconscious patient, using her medical jutsu to see what damage had been done to the boy she'd come to see as a little brother. "Also bring extra blankets and antibiotic salve. A couple of these wounds look like they've become infected."

Two medics hovering near the door scurried out of the room to get what she'd ordered, leaving the Hokage to tend to her patient. Iruka hovered close beside Naruto on the other side of the hospital bed, anxiously whispering soft reassurances and comforting words to the boy as he rhythmically petted the tangled mess of bangs from Naruto's face. Tsunade couldn't help but wonder if he was really trying to comfort his student or still trying to come to terms with the fact that the boy was still alive. Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Gaara stood in a small group on the other side of the room near the door, out of the way, but Tsunade could feel the three ninja watching her every move, as if ready to leap to Naruto's aid at any moment. If it wasn't for Tsunade's lingering shock she would have almost found it amusing how the boy had single-handedly turned some of the most powerful, battle-toughened ninja around into worrying mother hens. But then again, considering the boy's unexpected return and current state of being she could understand how those that'd known him could become so protective. She knew she herself was certainly no exception…

The female Sannin had to fight to keep her anger in check as more and more injuries were revealed to her searching hands. Naruto's body was littered with bruises and half-healed cuts. It'd been a sickening sight to see the devastation wrought on the poor boy when they'd finally arrived at the hospital and stripped Naruto of Iruka's vest.

Although he'd never been large or heavy in build, Naruto looked absolutely emaciated. Tsunade could count every single one of the younger shinobi's ribs and was painfully aware of the way his collarbone and cheekbones protruded from his body as though his skin was two sizes too small for his skeletal frame. As she ran her hands up and down his body she could feel the distant echo of torn ligaments and muscles through her medical jutsu. Whatever Akatsuki had done to him, they'd done it repeatedly, and often. Often enough for Naruto's unnatural regenerative powers to have trouble keeping up with healing the damage…

"How is he?" Tsunade heard a voice say, and looked up to find Jiraiya standing beside her, staring at his student with unreadable dark eyes.

"He's extremely weak," Tsunade sighed, shaking her head in helpless anger and frustration. "He looks like he hasn't been fed in months and I can detect signs of torture, or at least some kind of abuse."

"Will he recover?" Iruka asked, his one hand still rhythmically stroking Naruto's hair.

Tsunade wearily shook her head. "I don't know. Physically he should, but we don't know if he's suffered any kind of psychological damage. I wouldn't put it past Akatsuki to have done something like that…"

"Akatsuki will pay for what they've done," Gaara growled from where he still stood near the door, his voice dripping with promised death.

Kakashi stepped closer to the bed, his one eye shadowed as he stared at Naruto's barely recognizable form. "We're lucky we found him. I'm surprised Akatsuki didn't try to take him with them when they were escaping."

"We must've caught them off guard," Jiraiya said. "They must not have had time to get him."

"I still want to know how he's alive though," the silver-haired jounin said. He hesitantly reached out and touched Naruto's bony shoulder, as though trying to convince himself the boy was really there alive and breathing. "I and at least four other people found his body. There's no way someone could have survived what Akatsuki did to him. We also cremated his body. There should be no possible way for him to be here…"

Unfortunately, the famed copy ninja and the other shinobi didn't have time to wonder how such a miracle was possible. For just at that moment - as though woken by Kakashi's gentle touch - Naruto stirred, his eyelids weakly fluttering open before sluggishly falling close again. A pained moan sounded somewhere deep in the back of the boy's throat as he lethargically rolled his head to the side.

"Naruto?" Iruka called, anxiously leaning forward and petting back his student's hair. "Naruto, can you hear me?"

As though actually hearing his sensei's voice, Naruto rolled his head back towards Iruka. Eyelids slowly parted to reveal two hazy, cerulean-blue orbs underneath. There was a momentary pause as Naruto blankly stared up at his teacher. But then, his eyes finally focusing on the one leaning over him, a terrified scream burst from the boy's lips.

Before Iruka or anyone else knew what was happening, Naruto sprung upright and violently twisted away from him, scrambling to the other side of the bed.

"Get away from me!" he screamed. His eyes were filled with panic, his expression terrified. "Get away!"

He finally came to the edge of the bed and tumbled over the side. Too weak to stand or walk, Naruto scuttled backwards across the floor, his feet desperately kicking at the ground until he finally collided with the wall behind him. He sat there with his back pressed against the wall, breathing hard and staring at the group of startled ninja in unrestrained panic.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled. "Stay away!" He'd drawn his knees up to his chest like a frightened animal. His hands clawed at the wall as though trying to find some kind of escape. "You can't have it! I won't let you have it!"

"Naruto," Iruka said, slowly stepping towards the boy, his arms outstretched to draw his student into a comforting hug. "Naruto, it's us. Don't you remember-?"

"_Stay away!_" Naruto once again began kicking at the ground, scrambling backwards against the wall until he was huddled in a tiny ball in the far corner of the room. "You can't have it! I won't let you take it!"

Gripping either side of his head, Naruto frantically looked around the room, his blue eyes almost bulging from his emaciated face. "Where am I?" he cried, his voice breaking with fear. Tsunade could tell by the panicked look in his eyes that Naruto didn't recognize anyone there. "You can't have it! I won't let you get Kyuubi! It's not yours!"

Tsunade, Iruka, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Gaara all stared at Naruto in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Naruto," Tsunade said, stepping around the bed towards him. She moved with exaggerated slowness, making sure to keep her voice as soft and reassuring as possible. "It's alright, Naruto. No one's going to hurt you. We-"

"_STAY AWAY!_" The boy cringed away from her and huddled into an even smaller ball, his knees drawn flush up against his chest. "You can't have Kyuubi! I won't let you! I'll die before I let you get it!"

Unable to come any closer, Tsunade could only watch as the broken shadow of the boy she once knew hugged his knees and began rocking back and forth in the corner, fearful tears leaking down his cheeks. It was then that Tsunade suddenly realized whatever Akatsuki had done to Naruto was something far worse than what she'd ever expected. And for the first time in as long as she could remember being Hokage or even a medic, she felt completely and utterly helpless in knowing what to do to help heal those wounds…

oooooo

Sasuke flew through the crowded hospital, his feet eating up the stretch of sterile white floor. His breathing rasped harshly in his ears like pads of steel wool. His sides were beginning to cramp from running halfway across the village, but he ignored the pain. He could focus on nothing but the haze of frantic disbelief clouding his brain.

Those two ninja had said someone had found Naruto - that the blond shinobi was still alive! He had no idea how such a thing could be possible, but he had to make sure. The possibility of such a miracle being true was too much of a fantastic, unlikely hope for the boy to ignore. He had to know if his friend was really alive…

The deeper Sasuke delved into the hospital, the faster his heart began to race. He'd caught several glimpses of ANBU black opts - private bodyguards of the Hokage - milling around the halls, which almost screamed Tsunade was somewhere nearby.

Could this mean those ninja hadn't been lying and that Naruto really had been found?

Pushing more effort into his stinging leg muscles, Sasuke sped down another hallway. It was not difficult to deduce where Tsunade might be. The entire hospital was abuzz with noise and movement. Medics and nurses rushed about tending to patients, but the chaotic disorder of the place was impossible to mask the presence of half a dozen ANBU with their painted animal masks standing guard at one end of the hall. If those ninja had been telling the truth before and Tsunade truly had returned to the village with Naruto, then that was most likely where he was going to be found - with the Hokage.

As he neared the troop of guards - despite all his frantic thoughts and desperate need to see if his friend was really alive - Sasuke still had the presence of mind to know he would need an excuse to get past Tsunade's body guards. ANBU were charged with protecting the Hokage's life and weren't about to let just anyone run up to her. He'd be lucky if they let him within fifty feet of the room.

He was going to need a plan…

Unfortunately, Sasuke never got a chance to put any of his Uchiha genius to use, for just at that moment a frightened scream suddenly pierced the air, echoing down the corridors like some kind of ghostly cry from beyond the grave.

Sasuke almost froze at the sound. He knew that voice…

Although weak and laced with unfamiliar fear, Sasuke immediately recognized it. It would have been impossible for him not to. He'd spent so many of Team Seven's first missions together trying to block out that voice's incessant babbling, it'd been permanently etched into his memory. It was a voice he hadn't heard in more than nine months; a voice he'd thought he'd never hear again…

_Naruto…_

Any thoughts of plans now completely forgotten, Sasuke put on an extra burst of speed and rushed past the startled group of guards.

"Hey!" one of them yelled, lunging after Sasuke. But the boy was too fast. Driven by adrenaline and the almost painful hope now coursing through his veins like fire, not even the most elite of ninja probably could have stopped Sasuke from reaching that hospital room. If he was right and those ninja's story was to be believed (and assuming grief and guilt hadn't finally robbed him of his last bit of sanity), Sasuke would have gone up against a whole squad of ANBU without a second thought if it meant him once again seeing his friend who thought he'd lost to death so many months ago.

Dodging another ANBU that tried to grab him, Sasuke leapt towards the door, wrenched it open, and stumbled inside. His eyes quickly took in the scene, cataloging the presence and position of everyone there. Kakashi, Gaara, and the Sannin pervert Jiraiya were standing off to one side of the room. Tsunade and Iruka were near the far wall, their backs to him. And huddled there in the corner…

Sasuke felt the air leave his lungs like he'd just been punched in the gut. His entire body froze, paralyzed by the sight of the one he beheld.

Like a tiny ball of misery, a blond figure sat in the corner of the room, his knees pulled up to his chest. At Sasuke's sudden entrance, he visibly jumped, his head snapping up as if afraid of some kind of attack. Frightened tears leaked from his eyes, pooling and running along whisker-marked cheeks.

For a moment Sasuke wondered if what he was seeing was really real. A part of him knew who he saw couldn't really be sitting there - that there was no possible way he could still be alive! But no matter how hard the rational side of Sasuke's brain tried to assert itself, there was no denying the hauntingly familiar blue eyes staring back at him from the face of this emaciated, broken boy…

"Naruto…" The name slipped from Sasuke's lips like a whisper, shocked disbelief robbing him of any other intelligent speech.

For half a breath of eternity the two just stared at each other, their gazes locked in mutual surprise.

Not really conscious of his own actions, Sasuke shakily took another step into the room, his eyes never leaving those of his resurrected teammate. "Naruto… how-?"

But Sasuke never got a chance to find out how his friend was still alive, because just then the ANBU guards he'd slipped past in the hallway finally caught up with him, streaming into the room and tackling him from behind.

"Got you!" one yelled, seizing Sasuke's arm and twisting it behind his back. Another guard grabbed Sasuke's other arm and did the same, effectively immobilizing the young Uchiha. They began to pull him back towards the door.

"No!" Sasuke yelled, struggling against his captors. "Let me go!" His eyes were still locked on the frightened blond figure in the corner. He had to go see his friend. He had to make sure he was really real. "Let me go!"

"Sasuke..?"

Although weak and barely audible, the raspy voice rang like cannon fire through the room. Everyone froze, looking at Naruto in surprise. The boy was staring at Sasuke, the first true hint of recognition sparking somewhere in the back of his eyes. His body visibly relaxed, his muscles slowly untensing as recognition flooded his face.

"Release him!" Tsunade yelled, hurrying towards the group of ANBU. "Let him go!"

The ANBU reluctantly obeyed the Hokage and let the struggling ninja go. Sasuke stumbled as he was released, but he hardly seemed to notice. His attention was wholly focused on the other boy huddled in the corner.

"Go back outside and wait," Tsunade said, sharply motioning her guards back towards the door. "And don't let anyone else inside. If anymore people come bursting in here like that and traumatize that boy anymore than he already is, so help me gods I'll have your heads."

As the ANBU retreated from the angry Sannin and shut the door behind them, Sasuke took several more steps towards his former teammate, his eyes wide with lingering disbelief. Naruto didn't move, his legs still protectively drawn up against his chest as he watched Sasuke draw near. Unlike with Tsunade or Iruka, he did not try to scramble away. But even then, the suspicious shine of fear did not fully leave his eyes.

Slowly, hesitantly, as if afraid his friend might suddenly disappear in a cloud of smoke, Sasuke knelt beside Naruto on the ground, his hands held out to the sides so as not to startle the frightened boy. For a moment all Sasuke could do was stare. His mind felt like a raging storm of confusion, disbelief and shock. He still couldn't seem to make himself believe what he saw was real. It was all just too much for his jumbled brain to comprehend.

Very carefully, Sasuke reached a hand towards Naruto, wanting nothing more than to touch his friend and know that he was truly and honestly alive. Naruto at first flinched, shying away from the other boy. But then relaxing, he allowed Sasuke to tentatively run his fingertips along one whisker-marked cheek.

"Naruto…" Sasuke whispered, his voice breaking somewhere deep inside his throat as emotions long since repressed threatened to overwhelm his defenses. "It's really you…" Suspiciously damp eyes swept over Naruto's emaciated face, cataloging every line and darkened shadow capture and untold horrors had wrought on the once happy, outspoken boy. He slowly met Naruto's eyes again, a thousand different questions fighting to be asked at once. But only one actually made it out.

"How..?" Sasuke whispered, his voice choked with emotion. "How are you still alive? I was there when they found your body. You were dead…"

"That wasn't me," Naruto croaked, his voice weak and somehow childlike in its wretchedness. He hugged his knees closer. "Akatsuki faked my death so they could kidnap me without anyone coming to save me. They captured one of my shadow clones during battle and used some kind of special scroll seal on it to keep it from disappearing or me breaking the jutsu…"

As if remembering that terrible night, Naruto curled into an even tighter ball, wrapping one arm across his stomach while his other hand snaked up to grip the back of his neck. Tears pooled along his eyes and streaked down his cheeks in long, salty tracks. "I was knocked out when they started cutting up my clone…" he said, rocking back and forth in the corner. "I didn't know what they did until my jutsu finally broke…"

A shuddering sob racked his skeletal frame. His voice began to quiver, his entire body beginning to shake. "W-whenever you make a clone you know everything that clone did once it disappears. You know everything it saw, felt, or did… When my jutsu finally broke…" Naruto seemed unable to finish his sentence and trailed off with a gut-wrenching sob. Rocking himself back and forth, he clutched his stomach and neck tighter, as if assaulted with the memory of some long remembered pain. "When my jutsu finally broke," he forced himself to go on, "it… wasn't very pleasant…"

"Oh gods…" Kakashi murmured, his one eye wide with dawning horror. "Everything they did to your clone you felt after your jutsu broke, didn't you?"

Naruto didn't answer. But it was not difficult to glean an answer from the way the boy curled tighter in on himself and sobbed as he held his stomach and nervously rubbed the back of his neck, as if trying to smooth away some phantom pain.

"The jutsu must have been broken when his clone was cremated for the funeral…" Jiraiya said. The wandering Sannin stared at his former student, his dark eyes filling with grief. "Those bastards… I'll kill them if I ever get my hands on them."

"But why?" Sasuke demanded, still dazed by everything he'd heard. "Why would Akatsuki want to kidnap you and go to all the trouble of faking your death?"

"Because of Kyuubi," Naruto cried, miserably shaking his head. "They want to use the fox's power for themselves. They're trying to break the seal. I've been fighting them, but it's getting so hard to do…" Clutching either side of his head, Naruto huddled farther into the corner, as if somehow trying to hide.

"I can feel Kyuubi all the time now in the back of my head," he sobbed, frantically clutching his hair between his fingers as though trying to actually pull it from his head. "All the time… I can hear it clawing and scratching at my mind, trying to get out… It won't ever stop. Nothing I do will make it stop!" His voice steadily began to rise in pitch and volume, panic lacing his words. "It just keeps getting louder and louder!" he cried. "I just can't make it shut up!"

Now hyperventilating and sobbing freely, Naruto collapsed down over his knees, still rocking back and forth in place. His entire body shook. His fingers clawed at his scalp, viciously tugging at his own hair. "Make it stop!" he pleaded, screaming through his gritted teeth. "Please just make it stop! I don't want to hear that fox anymore! It won't be quiet or go away! All I can see are flames and teeth! Please just make it go _AWAY_!"

"Naruto, stop it!" Sasuke shouted, desperately trying to pry his friends hands away from his head before he could tear his own hair out. Several strands of blond hair drifted to the floor. "Naruto, stop it!"

Finally peeling Naruto's fingers away from his head, Sasuke suddenly found his arms filled with his sobbing, shaking friend. Naruto desperately clung to Sasuke, his face buried in the dark-haired boy's shirt. "Please don't let them get me again," he sobbed, his pathetic cries muffled by Sasuke's shirt. "Please. I can't go back there. If I do they'll break the seal and Kyuubi'll get out. I can feel the seal getting weaker all the time. Please. Please don't let them get me. I'll do anything, just please don't let them get me again."

Startled and just a tad bit overwhelmed, it took a moment for Sasuke's brain to catch up with the present. But then, as if suddenly remembering who it was sobbing against his chest, Sasuke slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around his friend's bony shoulders, drawing him into a tight embrace. Once again Sasuke was faced with the fantastic reality that his friend - who he'd just spent the last nine months mourning and believing was dead - was not only still alive but actually _there_, in his arms - undeniable proof of the other shinobi's existence. It was almost too much for him to believe…

Naruto, now a limp, shaking bundle of misery in his arms, sobbed uncontrollably into his chest. "Please don't let Akatsuki get me," he continued to cry, desperately clutching Sasuke's shirt as if afraid to let go. "Please… I can't go back there…"

"It's alright," Sasuke whispered, hugging his old teammate close. "I'm not going to let them get you. You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you here…"

As if actually believing the other boy, Naruto's sobs began to quiet although his grip on Sasuke's shirt did not lessen. Holding him close, Sasuke was sickened by the way he could feel all of Naruto's bones poking through the thin material of his shirt, like the blond was nothing but a skeleton masquerading as a human being.

_Gods, what did they do to you, Naruto?_ he wondered as red hot anger began to boil up inside him. This wretched creature in his arms was not the Naruto he used to know. This was nothing but a broken, withered shadow of the boy.

He was going to _kill_ everyone in that cloak-wearing crime organization. He didn't care how long it took to hunt them down, he was going to rip each and every one of them apart. He might have spent their first few years together as Team Seven denying any sense of kinship or common bond with his other teammates, but he'd be damned if he was going to let someone hurt his friend and try to get away with it now. The last thing Akatsuki's ninja were going to hear before he sent them all to the gates of hell was the roaring fury of a full power Chidori…

As if seeing Naruto's quieted state as a sign it was safe to approach the boy, Iruka slowly stepped closer. "That's right, Naruto," he said, his voice soft and reassuring. "No one's going to hurt you here. You're safe now."

But as Iruka knelt beside the two and stretched his arms out to take his student from the Uchiha's care, Naruto violently cringed away, huddling deeper into Sasuke's embrace.

Sasuke snarled as his head snapped towards his former academy instructor, his teeth bared in warning. By the way Iruka leapt backwards, he wouldn't have been surprised if he accidentally let his Sharingan surface and momentarily flash red.

For a moment it looked like Iruka wasn't sure whether to be more hurt by Naruto's rejection or frightened of Sasuke's bloodline trait.

Finally taking pity on the man - after all, Sasuke knew Iruka would never intentionally try to scare or harm his ex-student - Sasuke leaned out his traumatized friend's death-grip. "It's alright, Naruto," he whispered, coaxing his friend to look at him. "Iruka won't hurt you. He used to always take you out for ramen. Remember?"

Tears still pooling along his eyes, Naruto glanced Iruka, his face filled with confused, uncertain fear. But then, as if suddenly seeing his former instructor for the first time, Naruto's entire body relaxed, recognition flooding his features. "Iruka-sensei?" his voice trembled. He slowly leaned away from Sasuke, his eyes locked on the gentle chuunin.

"Yes, Naruto, it's me," Iruka said, tentatively reaching his arms out towards the broken boy again. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

As if that was the only kind of reassurance he needed, Naruto collapsed into Iruka's arms, letting the older man pull him into a suffocatingly tight embrace. Broken sobs once again assaulted the boy, tears dampening the chuunin instructor's shirt.

"They told me no one was ever going to save me," Naruto sobbed, his body shaking helplessly in Iruka's arms. "They said everyone thought I was dead and that no one would come rescue me. I thought I was going to die down there…"

"Sh… it's alright, Naruto," Iruka murmured, rocking the boy back and forth in his arms. "It's alright. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, I promise. You're back home now. You're safe…"

His wasted body now completely drained of strength, Naruto went limp in Iruka's arm, his quiet sobs echoing through the room. Murmuring soft reassurances and gentle words of comfort, Iruka scooped Naruto up into his arms and carried him back towards the bed.

Sasuke watched Iruka gently lay his friend back down and pull a blanket up over him. His arms felt strangely empty now without his friend there to fill them. Getting to his feet, Sasuke glanced at Tsunade who was standing not far from him, silently watching Iruka tend to his student.

"I'm suppose to leave tomorrow morning for a mission," he said, stepping towards her. "I want to give official notice now that I will not be going…"

Tsunade looked up at him in surprise. But then her face lighting with understanding, and she slowly nodded. "I see. But a ninja cannot just ignore his duties to the village. You will have to be reassigned. Until further notice you are herby assigned to watch over Naruto Uzumaki and act as his personal bodyguard. I expect you to give nothing but your best in fulfilling this mission…"

Sasuke bowed his head, the smallest hint of gratitude lighting the Uchiha's eyes. "Thank you," he murmured.

Tsunade however looked grave. "Don't thank me just yet," she said, glancing once again at the frail figure on the bed. "If Akatsuki truly wants Kyuubi, then I have no doubt they will come after Naruto again. And this time they'll stop at nothing to get him back…"

To Be Continued…

Agh… Sasuke was such a pain in the ass to write this chapter. He's such a difficult character to properly characterize. Even though he's suppose to be an emotional cold and distant bastard, I couldn't help but see him being truly torn apart inside by Naruto's death and him becoming fiercely protective of Naruto after finding him still alive. Any thoughts?

PLEASE REVIEW!


	5. Broken Shadow

**Chapter Five: Broken Shadow**

"You have to eat something, Naruto."

"I'm not hungry," came an empty reply.

Sasuke had to resist the urge to heave a frustrated sigh. Naruto sat half-reclined in bed, listlessly poking at a tray of food a nurse had brought him a few minutes before. Despite his emaciated state and obvious need for nourishment, the boy stared at the food with such bland disinterest one would have wondered if he even knew what it was. Everyone knew hospitals were not know for their cuisine, but for a boy who'd been known to put several servings of food away in less time than it took another person to get through one, his lack of enthusiasm was somehow a disturbing sight.

"Naruto, you have to eat. You're too thin," Sasuke persisted, only barely able to keep the underlying sea of worry from leaking into his voice. "Tsunade said you might not feel like eating, but that's only because you haven't eaten in so long your stomach doesn't know its hungry anymore. If you eat a little you'll get your appetite back."

Naruto just shook his head and weakly pushed the tray table away from him, as if repulsed by what sat on top of it. "No. I can't…" he murmured and settled back against the bed. Closing his eyes, he pulled the layers of blankets closer around him, cocooning himself in their warmth.

Bundled the way he was, Sasuke couldn't help but think how small his friend looked - like he was nothing but a tiny mound in a sea of sterile white bedding.

Sighing under his breath Sasuke moved to the far side of the room and leaned against one of the windows, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Outside, early morning sunlight bathed the rooftops of Konoha in a wash of gold and yellow. But despite the warm light streaming into the room, Sasuke felt cold inside.

Naruto had been like this all morning - distant and disturbingly quiet. He'd barely been able to get several words out of the boy. Since finding him the day before, Naruto had spent most of the time sleeping, as if too weak to do anything else. Iruka had barely been able to get him into the bathroom and wash all the months of dirt and grim from him before he'd fallen into an exhausted, coma-like sleep. Tsunade said such a thing was to be expected considering how weak and malnourished Naruto was, but still Sasuke was unsettled by his friend's unfamiliar state of weakness.

Although showered and dressed in clean hospital-issue pajama pants and T-shirt, Naruto somehow looked worse now than he did when Sasuke first burst into the room and found him huddled in the corner. No longer masked by layers of dirt, the bruises covering Naruto's arms and body were now painfully visible. They stood out against his sickly pale skin in violent patches of purple and faded green. Dark shadows ringed empty blue eyes, while an oppressive air of hopelessness seemed to surround the faded remains of the once happy, energetic boy.

Tsunade and Gaara had left not long after Sasuke arrived the day before - both being called away to deal with the aftermath of the Akatsuki raid. Jiraiya and Kakashi had stayed a little longer, but they too eventually drifted off. Iruka had stayed the longest - hovering by Naruto's bedside and comforting his spiritually wounded student as best he could. It was only after some tactful convincing on Sasuke's part that the chuunin finally agreed to leave for the night and return the next morning.

And so, as the sun sank below the horizon and night stole over the land, Sasuke finally found himself blissfully alone with his resurrected teammate and able to contemplate the reality of his friend's return. In some distant corner of his mind he still couldn't believe Naruto was alive. It just seemed like too incredible a thing to be real. After finding his friend's mangled body and spending so many nights of lonely torment and guilt replaying that one image over and over in his head, the possibility he might yet have another chance to protect his friend was like some kind of fantastic dream.

As if afraid he might suddenly wake up from that dream, Sasuke didn't sleep at all that night, and instead sat up near the window watching the gentle rise and fall of his teammate's chest - reassuring himself with every breath Naruto took that what he saw was really real. It was only when the first traces of the sun's orange glow began to warm the eastern corner of the sky that Sasuke finally allowed himself to believe the truth of the matter: his friend was still alive, and this time nothing short of death itself was going to stop him from protecting Naruto from Akatsuki and anyone else that tried to hurt him…

A tentative knock at the door suddenly startled Sasuke back to the present. Naruto also heard it and groggily pushed himself up to sit.

Sasuke was at Naruto's bedside in half a heartbeat, his hand unconsciously straying to the kunai in his leg holster. Whoever was at the door was not Tsunade, Jiraiya, or even one of the hospital's doctors that had the Hokage's permission to enter; they would have all just walked in. No, whoever was at the door was someone else, and Sasuke wasn't about to take any chances…

"Who is it?" he demanded.

The door slowly swung open to reveal a wall of faces crowded together in the doorway. Sasuke immediately recognized their unexpected visitors. It would have been impossible for him not to.

It was the Rookie Nine. And if he was not mistaken he also saw Gai-sensei's team - Tenten, Neji, and Rock Lee - standing just behind the others in the hallway.

All of them stared into the room with hesitant, dubious expressions, as if unsure of what they were going to find inside. But as their eyes slowly came to rest on the frail blond figure in bed, their expressions - like a wave passing through the group - all morphed into ones of stunned disbelief. Sasuke saw Chouji's jaw actually drop, a half-eaten potato chip hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Sakura - standing at the front of the group - took several hesitant steps into the room, her bright green eyes locked on Naruto. The others followed her inside and stood in a small semi-circle near the door, staring at the resurrected shinobi as if unable to believe what they saw. For a moment, total silence reigned. But then, as if coming out of some kind of trace, Sakura took another step towards the bed, tears glistening wetly in her eyes.

"Naruto…" she whispered, her voice shaking with emotions. "It's really you… You're still alive…" A single tear flashed down her cheek. Then, with no more warning, the pink-haired koinoichi launched herself at her former teammate, wrapping him in a crushing embrace. She buried her face in his neck, hugging him tightly as ragged sobs shook her frame.

"Sakura," Naruto choked, but did nothing to free himself from the koinoichi's embrace.

"You're still alive," she cried, tears now streaming down her face. "We all thought you were dead. I didn't know what to think when Tsunade said you were still alive. At first I thought it was just some kind of cruel joke, but now-" She broke off with a hiccupped sob, clutching Naruto as if afraid he might suddenly disappear. "You're still alive…" she whispered, almost as if trying to convince herself what she said was true. "H-how is this possible?"

Naruto however said nothing in way of explanation, and silently returned Sakura's embrace - slowly wrapping his wire-thin arms around her as he greedily accepted her offered comfort and warmth.

By now the others had begun to huddle around the bed, all of them jockeying for position to see the blond. Sakura slowly released Naruto and sat back on the edge of the mattress, her eyes still glued on her resurrected teammate. Her eyes were red and cheeks wet with tears.

"I still can't believe you're alive…" she whispered, holding Naruto's hand tightly in her own as if unwilling to let him go.

"This is impossible," Kiba said from the foot of the bed. His eyes were wide as he stared at Naruto, as if he were really seeing a ghost. "I was there when we found your body. How are you still alive?"

"Shadow clone," Naruto rasped. His already shadowed eyes suddenly became distant, haunted by unwanted memories. His whole demeanor became guarded, as if withdrawing into himself for protection. "Akatsuki made some kind of new jutsu that kept it from disappearing. They didn't want anyone coming after me…"

A heavy silence descended upon the room, Naruto's words ringing loudly in everyone's ears.

"Gods, you're so troublesome," Shikamaru finally murmured -breaking the tense silence - but it lacked any actual feeling. His eyes were sorrowful as he stared at Naruto, as if he somehow already knew what the other shinobi had suffered at his captors' hands.

"How did you all get in here?" Sasuke took the opportunity to demand, suspiciously eyeing the group of intruders. "Tsunade had guards posted at each end of the hallway. No one except authorized people are allowed in here to see Naruto."

"We were given special permission," Neji replied, his eyes narrowing darkly at the other boy. "Would you like to see the note the Hokage gave us?"

Sasuke didn't deem such a question worthy of an answer and silently glared at the Hyuuga prodigy.

"How are _you_ here by the way?" Neji then asked. "Like you said, only authorized people are allowed in here to see Naruto…"

"I've been ordered to watch over him and act as his personal bodyguard," Sasuke hissed, feeling the hackles rise on the back of his neck.

Neji wasn't the only one to look at him in skeptical surprise. Sasuke had to fight back the urge to throw all of them out of the room. Apparently even after all this time, none of them had forgotten his past transgressions against Naruto when he'd tried to leave the village…

Ignoring Sasuke and her cousin, Hinata tentatively stepped closer to Naruto's bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked, her timid voice trembling with half a dozen different emotions. Her pupil-less eyes were watery, her features twisted with despair as she stared at her childhood crush. "You look so thin…"

Naruto tried to give a reassuring smile but it only came out like a painful grimace. "I'm fine," he said. But everyone knew it was a lie. It would have been impossible for them not to see the haunted look shadowing Naruto's face, his emaciated body, or the lusterless blue voids that had become his eyes. No longer was there any hint of happiness or mirth in the young shinobi's voice. Compared to the Naruto they once knew, this boy was nothing but a withered shadow of the hyperactive whirlwind. It was almost like the Naruto they once knew had died and all that remained was this pitiful, broken shell.

"We brought you something to welcome you back with," Lee took the opportunity to announce. He carefully edged his way to Naruto's bedside and placed a large covered bowl on the tray stand beside Naruto's uneaten breakfast. He rolled the table in front of Naruto and took the cover off. A cloud of stream billowed up off its contents. "We stopped by Ichiraku before we came and got you a bowl of ramen," he excitedly explained. "When the owner heard it was for you, he was very nice and packed it so we could bring it to you. It's miso. I hope that is alright. We did not know if you really had a preference. Here," he said, pulling a pair of wooden chopsticks out of his pocket and snapping them apart, "you'll need these." Fitting the chopsticks into Naruto's hand, he then leaned back, a satisfied smile on his face.

Everyone expectantly stared at Naruto, waiting for him to dig in.

For a long moment of silence Naruto just sat there, emptily staring into the bowl of noodles. His eyes were distant, as if actually looking at something a million miles away. There was no spark of excitement, no sign he even recognized what his friends had brought him. It was like he couldn't even bring himself to care.

"Thanks, guys," he weakly murmured, setting the chopsticks down beside the bowl and pushing the tray away, "but I'm really not hungry. Maybe later…"

It was in that instant that everyone knew something was wrong - something horribly, unspeakably wrong. Never before had Naruto ever refused ramen. It was like the sun suddenly deciding to rise in the west. It just wasn't right!

Leaning back against the pillows, Naruto pulled the blankets closer, huddling in them for warmth while his friends all looked on in confused, frightened worry. This wasn't right. What could Akatsuki have done to their friend that he no longer cared for ramen? What'd happened that he'd been turned into this defeated shadow of his former self? But probably the biggest question on everyone's mind: was there anything they could do to bring the boy they once knew back?

oooooo

Shadows seemed to seep from the very walls of the cave. A single torch burned in the middle of the chamber, creating a small pool of flickering light. Beyond that patch of light stood an impenetrable wall of darkness. The air was cold. Somewhere in the distance, the echo of dripping water could be heard. Slowly, out of the oppressive gloom, a group of dark figures appeared and came to stand in a small circle around the torch. Their cloud-embossed cloaks whisked harshly over the rocky ground.

"We estimate more than one hundred of our ninjas were either captured or killed in the attack," one figure with translucent white eyes said, his voice muffled by the high collar of his cloak. "Leaf and Sand caught us off guard. We did not think Konoha would be strong enough to try and mount an attack, or that they would enlist Sand's help in doing so."

"I don't care about those kind of losses," hissed another figure, this one wreathed in dark shadows despite the torchlight so that none of his features were visible. "Akatsuki has never had trouble recruiting new agents. What I want to know is how we managed to lose the Kyuubi vessel. We were almost successful in breaking the Fourth's seal in our last ceremony. The boy's hold on the seal is beginning to weaken. He may have resisted all our attempts to release Kyuubi so far, but he is close to breaking. I want him back before he regains his strength and is able to fight the Seal Breaking again."

"The brat will be more heavily guarded now than he was the last time we tried to kidnap him," Deidara said. "The Hokage will no doubt have put an entire squad of ANBU on him."

"I don't care," their leader hissed through the dark mantel of shadows shrouding him. "I want that demon vessel back." He slowly turned to the one standing beside him. "Uchiha, I want you and Kisame to recapture the boy. He shouldn't prove too much of a problem himself; he only barely survived the last ceremony. He will be in no shape to fight back."

"And if we come across any guards?" Itachi asked.

Their leader's eyes narrowed, his voice ringing ominously through the inky darkness of the cave. "Kill them…"

To Be Continued…

Short chapter, I know, but I felt it was necessary to have a little transition chapter before all hell breaks out. Any thoughts on this latest chapter?

PLEASE REVIEW!


	6. Demon Within

So how 'bout I got my first flame for this story! It was actually rather exciting (not that I'm encouraging it as a common practice or anything), but it was so ridiculous I just couldn't help but laugh after reading it. Big thanks to **bboo** for it! It made my day.

**Chapter Six: Demon Within**

Night had once again fallen on the village of Konoha. Moonlight streamed in through the windows, bathing the hospital room in streaks of blue and silver. Sasuke sat in a chair on the far side of the room, basking in the silence of the night, once again unable to sleep. Naruto was asleep in bed, his skinny body barely even visible under all the blankets. He lay so quiet and still, the only thing to prove he was still alive was the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

Sasuke silently watched his sleeping teammate, counting the seconds in between each new breath of air. It was almost soothing, the rhythm of Naruto's breathing. Since his friends left earlier that morning Naruto had spent most of the day sleeping, fading in and out of consciousness as if to constantly make sure he was still in the safety of Konoha and not back in some dark and dingy Akatsuki cell. Each time Naruto woke Sasuke saw the same momentary flash of fear, his pale blue eyes filling with panic. But then, recognition setting in, Naruto's eyes would once again grow distant and empty, devoid of any light.

It sickened Sasuke to see his friend reduced to such a state. It wasn't right. Naruto had always been so bright and sunny. Loud, brash, and obnoxious, he'd always had a way of making people notice him, whether they wanted to or not. It was one of his traits Sasuke had come to accept and even expect. It was what made Naruto unique. Team Seven wouldn't have been the same without the hyperactive whirlwind. He'd been the one that made life interesting. But now…

Now his friend was nothing but a broken shadow. Nothing he did seemed able to reach the other boy. Naruto was like a lifeless shell, too haunted by memories of horror and pain to even remember how to smile. It was just so wrong. If someone had told him years ago this was what the loudmouth prankster would one day become, Sasuke never would have believed them…

A murmured groan suddenly broke the silence of the room. Sasuke's head snapped up in the direction of his friend's hospital bed.

Naruto had begun to toss in his sleep, his frail body writhing beneath the sheets and blankets. His head sluggishly rolled back and forth across the pillow as another troubled moan whimpered deep inside his throat.

Sasuke was instantly up and by his teammate's side.

The blond shinobi's eyebrows were scrunched together in the middle of his forehead. His rhythmic breathing had become hitched, laced with sobs. Tears leaked from the corners of his clenched eyelids and streaked down the sides of his face. He choked back a pitiful sob, his features contorted with fear.

"Naruto," Sasuke called, reaching out and shaking his friend's shoulder. "Naruto, wake up."

The boy weakly cried out in his sleep, his body curling in on itself as if somehow trying to hide from whatever horrors plagued his dreams. His arms unconsciously wrapped around his waist, clutching his stomach.

"Naruto, come on. Wake up," Sasuke called more urgently, shaking the boy's shoulder a little harder.

Naruto's eyes shot open. With a strangled scream he violently twisted away from Sasuke and cowered against the headboard, his one arm held up in front of his face as if to shield himself from some kind of attack. His eyes were filled with panic, fear rolling off him in almost tangible waves.

"Naruto, it's alright. It's me," Sasuke said, holding his hands reassuringly up in front of his chest. "You were only dreaming. It's alright, you're safe. You're back in Konoha. No one's going to hurt you here, I promise."

As though finally recognizing who was talking to him, the immediate panic drained from Naruto's face although terror still shined brightly in his eyes. "Sasuke…" he sobbed in relief. He shakily drew in a breath of air, his emaciated body shivering violently. He fearfully looked around the room, as if to reassure himself of where he was.

"It's alright, Naruto," Sasuke murmured, staring at his friend with barely concealed concern. "You're in the hospital. You were just having a nightmare. You're safe."

Naruto slowly looked back at Sasuke, his body trembling uncontrollably. A single tear flashed down his cheek. He still had both arms wrapped across his stomach, his knees drawn up against his chest. His hair hung around his face in long shaggy tangles. Sasuke couldn't help but note how much his friend looked like a frightened, wounded animal.

"No one's going to hurt you," Sasuke continued, keeping up a steady stream of reassuring words to help Naruto focus on him. "It was just a dream. Akatsuki can't hurt you anymore."

As if drained of all his energy Naruto slumped against the headboard, tears glistening wetly in his eyes. He released a shaky half-sob, half-sigh. "I thought I was back there…" he murmured, his voice barely audible as he clutched his stomach tighter. "I thought they'd caught me again and were trying to-" He broke off with a shuddering sob, unable to finish.

"It's alright, Naruto. I'm not going to let Akatsuki or anyone else hurt you."

Closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against the headboard, Naruto miserably shook his head. "You can't stop them…" he whispered. "No one can… It's not Akatsuki I'm scared of anyway. It's what they want to pull out of me…"

"You mean Kyuubi?" Sasuke said, leaning closer. This was the first time he'd been able to get Naruto to open up to him, or really even speak.

Naruto nodded slowly, unable to meet Sasuke's gaze. "Each time Akatsuki tried to break the seal I could feel the fox get a little closer to getting out, like it was right there underneath my skin…" Naruto's body began to shake more violently, tears leaking down his cheeks. "It hurt so much," he sobbed, clutching his stomach tighter. "It seemed to go on forever. Nothing I did could make it stop. A couple of times I thought I was going to go insane. There were times I just wanted to give up and die. But I kept fighting… I knew I couldn't let Kyuubi get out. But I don't know if I can do it anymore… After Akatsuki's last ceremony, I can feel the fox getting stronger. It's trying to get out. I see it all the time in my dreams now. All I see are teeth, flames, and blood…"

Naruto looked up at Sasuke, his eyes silently begging for help. "I don't know how much longer I can fight it," he sobbed, his face heartbreakingly wretched in its hopelessness. "I don't know if I can hold the fox in if Akatsuki gets me again. I'm afraid I won't be strong enough to fight it…"

"I'm not going to let Akatsuki get you," Sasuke hissed, startling both himself and Naruto by the conviction in his voice. He leaned forward and held Naruto's gaze with his own. "Do you hear me, Naruto? I'm not going to let them hurt you anymore. I'll kill them before I let them lay another finger on you."

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a long moment of silence, his eyes two pools of surprise and tentative hope. But then, like water draining through a sieve, that hope disappeared back into the dark recesses of Naruto's eyes, swallowed once again by emptiness and defeat.

"Not even you can fight everything in this world, Sasuke," he murmured. "You've never felt Kyuubi's power or know what it wants to do once it gets out. It'll kill everyone in sight. Kyuubi has no feelings except anger and revenge. It only lives to kill. And I'm afraid of who it'll hurt if it gets out…"

Sasuke couldn't stand the sound of hopelessness in his friend's voice. It wasn't right. "You're not going to let Kyuubi get out," he said, grabbing Naruto's hand and holding it tightly in his own as if to physically make the other boy listen. "I know you're strong enough to fight it. You've kept Akatsuki from breaking the seal for the last nine months. You can't give up now. You said you wanted to be Hokage someday. Hokage never give up. You have to keep fighting."

A bitter, empty chuckle burst from Naruto's lips, his narrow shoulders quaking as several more tears slipped down his gaunt cheeks in between bouts of mirthless laughter. Sasuke was taken aback by the sound. Never would he have thought Naruto capable of producing such a horrible sound.

"Hokage?" Naruto laughed in between his bitter tears. "How can I become Hokage when it'll be my fault the village is destroyed? You used to always make fun of me for being stupid, Sasuke, but now it's you too stupid to recognize the truth."

"I'm not the one being stupid here, idiot," Sasuke said, clutching Naruto's hand tighter in his own. "You're acting like your fate's already been sealed. That fox isn't going to get out. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Iruka, me and half the ninja in this village aren't going to let Akatsuki anywhere near you. We're going to protect you." Sasuke's eyes bored into Naruto's as though willing the broken boy to believe him. He didn't care what Naruto thought; he wasn't going to lose his friend again.

Naruto studied Sasuke for a long moment of silence, his shadowed blue eyes unreadable. But then, as if too tired to try and argue with Sasuke anymore, the boy leaned his head against the headboard, closing his eyes as exhaustion drained his shivering body of strength.

Finding no other way to vent his frustration and concern for his friend's fatalistic outlook, Sasuke frowned and tsked disapprovingly under his breath. "Get back under the covers and lie down, idiot. You need to sleep. Tsunade will kill me if she comes back tomorrow morning and finds you worse off than how she left you." When Naruto didn't immediately do as he was directed and remained huddled in a tiny ball at the head of the bed, Sasuke's worry once again began to mount. Seeing the lingering fear in Naruto's eyes he lowered his voice and said, "It's alright, Naruto. I'm going to be here the entire time you're asleep. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

"What about the dreams?" Naruto's whispered in a pitifully small voice.

Sasuke sorrowfully stared at his friend. "I can't do anything to stop those," he regretfully confessed. "But I'll be right here and wake you up if you have another one. If you want I can go ask one of the nurses for something to help you sleep."

"Yes," Naruto rasped without any hesitation. Finally uncurling himself from where he sat against the headboard Naruto slowly lay back down, pulling the blankets up around him as if for protection from the demons of the night.

Turning towards the door, Sasuke gave one last look over his shoulder towards the tiny figure in bed. Naruto had curled up on his side with his back to Sasuke. He was once again struck by how small and helpless Naruto looked. "I'll be right back," he murmured, and headed for the door.

Just as he was about to turn the handle though, a quiet voice hesitantly called after him. "Did you really mean what you said before?"

Sasuke paused in the doorway. He didn't know exactly what Naruto was talking about, but it really didn't matter. Everything he'd told him was true. He wasn't going to let Akatsuki anywhere near him. "Yes," he murmured, then slipped out of the door.

Half the lights in the hallway were turned off, only every other bank of lights kept on. Silence hung heavily in the air. The noise and confusion that filled the hospital earlier that day were gone. If Sasuke didn't know better, he would have almost said he was in a completely different place.

Two ANBU were standing guard at the end of the hall. They glanced at Sasuke as he strode past, but said nothing as they turned their animal-masked faces forward again. Tsunade had left orders that Sasuke wasn't to be stopped from going in or out of Naruto's room. Sasuke secretly enjoyed strutting past them unhindered - he still hadn't forgotten how they'd tried to drag him out of Naruto's room the day before.

The nurses' station was at the end of the hall on the left. A lone medic-nin was manning the booth, reading a magazine. Just as Sasuke neared and was about to step up to the counter, the deafening blast of a monstrous explosion suddenly sounded nearby. The entire building shook. Sasuke had to grab the edge of the counter to keep from being thrown to the floor. The lights illuminating the hallway flickered once, twice, before going completely out, plunging the hospital into darkness. Somewhere in the distance fire alarms squealed to life as did the building murmur of shouts and frightened screams.

Sasuke wildly looked around as emergency lights blinked on, bathing the hallway in a bloody red glow. Without hesitation he spun and took off back down the hall in the direction of Naruto's room. Panic welled up in the back of his throat. He didn't need to be told what was happening - he'd feared its possibility ever since finding Naruto still alive. They were being attacked. And there was only one reason why anyone would be attacking the village hospital…

"Go get reinforcements!" Sasuke yelled to the two ANBU as he raced past them. "It's Akatsuki!"

"There are over a dozen ANBU already stationed at different locations around the hospital and outside it," one yelled.

"I don't care! Go get more!" Sasuke paused only long enough to see one speed off down another red-lit hall.

Rushing to his friend's room, Sasuke wrenched the door open. Naruto was sitting up in bed, his eyes lit with panic.

"What's going on?" he cried, his body visibly shaking. "What was that explosion?"

"Come on, Naruto, we have to go," Sasuke said, rushing to the other boy's bedside and reaching out to him. "We have to get you out of here."

"It's Akatsuki isn't it? They've come back to get me!"

"Come on, Naruto!" Sasuke cried, pulling his friend out of bed by the arm. Naruto stumbled, too weak to stand on his own. Slinging his teammate's arm up over his shoulder, Sasuke physically began to drag Naruto towards the door, supporting the blond's weight against his side. Naruto seemed too frightened and lost in panic to do anything more than blindly stumble after him.

Coming to the door, Sasuke paused and craned his neck around the doorjamb, glancing either way. Several nurses and medic-nin had appeared and were hurrying up and down the halls, trying to figure out what was going on. The remaining ANBU had moved closer to door of Naruto's room, warily keeping watch over the mounting chaos. Sasuke quickly assessed his options. The explosion had come somewhere down the hall to his right. He still didn't see any sign of enemy-nin, but had no illusion they wouldn't soon appear and come after his friend. There was no reason for someone to attack the hospital unless they were after its resident demon-vessel. He had to get Naruto out of there…

Pulling Naruto closer, he slipped out the doorway, heading towards the left. Naruto weakly stumbled along beside him. The remaining guard saw them and hurried after them.

"Where are you taking him?" he demanded. "The Hokage ordered us to keep him safe inside the room."

"There's not enough of us to protect him against a team of Akatsuki ninja," Sasuke said, hurriedly pulling Naruto along. "We don't know how many of them there are. Plus we'll be cornered inside that room. We need to get him out of here and somewhere safe until reinforcements arrive."

Not wasting any more time on the guard, Sasuke helped Naruto to the end of the hallway where an emergency stairwell door stood. Booting the door open, Sasuke pulled his friend after him into the darkened stairwell. Only one light bulb above the door shed any light in the oppressive gloom, drenching the stairwell in a dark, crimson glow. Below them on the next landing stood another patch of red, marking the exit. Sasuke could only thank whatever higher powers that be that Naruto's room was only on the second floor.

Moving quickly, Sasuke helped Naruto navigate the darkened stairs, supporting his friend's weight as best he could. Naruto leaned heavily against him, his frail arm wrapped around the back of Sasuke's neck. Twice Naruto stumbled, almost falling headfirst down the stairs, but each time Sasuke caught him and steadied his friend's weakened body against his side.

Finally reaching the bottom, Sasuke and Naruto paused near the door, both leaning against the wall and breathing heavily. Sasuke could feel his friend shaking in both fear and exhaustion. He tightened his grip on Naruto's waist, trying to offer him reassurance.

The remaining ANBU that'd followed them, moved past them and slowly inched open the door, letting a cool breeze into the stairwell. Drifting on the wind Sasuke could hear the muffled sounds of shouting and fire somewhere in the distance.

The ANBU guard carefully leaned out the door, sighting in all directions. "It looks clear," he said, motioning Sasuke to follow him. "If we stick to the back streets we might be able to reach ANBU headquarters undetected."

Sasuke pulled Naruto against him again, shouldering the blond shinobi's weight. Naruto could barely keep his legs under him anymore. Sasuke could tell he wasn't going to last much longer. He was too weak to be up out of bed like this…

The three slipped out the doorway, heading for the darkened warren of streets surrounding the hospital. Just as they ventured beyond the shadows of the hospital though, Sasuke saw two figures wearing long black cloaks with red embossed clouds suddenly swoop in from either side - seemingly out of no where - as metal blades flashed brightly in the moonlight. Before he could draw his weapon or ever call out a warning, the ANBU guard accompanying them fell to the ground in a misty spray of red, his gurgled scream echoing into the night.

Pulling his friend close, Sasuke whipped his kunai from his leg holster, holding it threatening out in front of him towards the enemy ninja. Naruto cringed against him, his eyes wide with terror. He began to breath harder, hyperventilating as panic washed over him. He seemed frozen, unable to move at the sight of Akatsuki robes.

The two ninja chuckled darkly as they turned to face them.

"Look at the little demon-vessel," one laughed, his two daggers shining wetly in the moonlight from the dead ANBU's blood. "He looks scared…"

"He should be," the other replied, smirking over the collar of his cloak. "I would be scared too if the higher-ups were going to do to me what they're planning to do to him."

Sasuke's Sharingan flared to life, the tomoe spokes ringing his pupils spinning madly. "Take one more step and you're both dead," he hissed, maneuvering himself so that he stood between the two enemy agents and his friend.

The two just laughed. "I think we're the ones that should be telling you that," the first chuckled. "That demon-vessel is coming with us whether you like it or not."

Then, as if in unspoken agreement, the two simultaneously charged, their deadly weapons ready to cut their target's only remaining bodyguard down. But the young Uchiha wasn't about to let Akatsuki win so easily…

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke concentrated his chakra in the back of his throat. Then holding two fingers up in front of his lips like he was about to whistle, he blew the chakra from his mouth in a massive plume of fire.

The two ninja fell writhing to the ground, screaming as flames ate at their flailing bodies. Sasuke dispassionately watched as the two eventually stopped moving, their charred limbs falling lifelessly to the ground beside them.

Naruto was shivering violently against him, tightly clutching his shirt. Sasuke wished he could stop and calm his traumatized friend, but they didn't have time. He didn't know how many more Akatsuki agents there were or if there were possibly any S-class ninja, and had no doubt his Fireball Jutsu had just attracted the attention of more enemy-nin. He had to get Naruto out of there quick…

"Come on, Naruto," he said, starting to pull his friend away again. But just as he began to turn back towards their only hope of safety, Sasuke heard a frighteningly familiar voice speak up behind him.

"Where do you think you're going, little brother?"

Sasuke felt his blood run cold. Spinning around, Sasuke was horrified to find himself staring at none other than his older brother, Itachi, and his shark-faced partner, Kisame. Itachi's Sharingan glowed evilly in the moonlight, his blood-red gaze boring straight down into Sasuke's soul.

"I think you have something that belongs to us," he said, and before Sasuke even knew what was happening, reached out and grabbed Naruto by the arm, violently ripping him away from Sasuke. Then, pulling his free hand back, he viciously backhanded Sasuke across the face. The younger Uchiha flew backwards and skid across the ground before finally coming to a stop several yards away.

"Sasuke!" Naruto screamed, frantically struggling against Itachi. "Sasuke, help me!"

"Be quiet, you," Itachi hissed and pulled Naruto towards him, pinning the younger shinobi up against his chest as he pressed a kunai to his throat, "or I'll make sure our next Seal Breaking session together is twice as painful as the last one…"

Sobbing and shaking, Naruto went limp in Itachi's arms, too overcome with fear to struggle anymore.

Sasuke by now had begun to painfully push himself back up to his feet, his vision swimming dangerously from Itachi's blow. His forehead was bleeding, most likely cut by his older brother's ring. He angrily wiped away the blood dripping into his eyes and pulled another kunai from his leg holster.

"Let Naruto go!" he snarled, turning to face his estranged brother and partner again. His Sharingan spun wildly as he gripped his kunai tighter, his knuckles almost white with rage. "Let him go right now!"

"Why should we?" Itachi chuckled, pressing the kunai harder against Naruto's throat. "Your friend is quite important to us, you know."

"So help me, Itachi, if you touch one hair on his head I'm going to cut you open from navel to nose…"

Itachi laughed. "My, little brother, your language has become so colorful since our last encounter. Those are rather strong words though coming from someone who wasn't even strong enough to protect his friend the last time we came after him. Tell me, were you shocked when you found his mutilated body in that clearing? Did you cry when you thought we killed him?"

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke screamed, barely able to contain his rage. If his older brother hadn't been holding Naruto hostage right then he had no doubt he would have rushed Itachi with a full powered Chidori. But somehow through the haze of red clouding his vision, Sasuke knew he needed to keep a level head if he wanted to save his friend.

Naruto hung limp in Itachi's embrace, his body shaking helplessly as frightened tears leaked down his face. "Sasuke!" he wailed. "Sasuke, don't let them take me! Please, I can't go back there! Please help me, you promised!"

Sasuke had to fight with himself not to immediately rush to his friend's aide. As much as he wanted to tear his friend away from Itachi so his brother and Akatsuki could never touch him again, he couldn't risk it. It was too dangerous. Itachi had him at a disadvantage and he knew it. Even though he knew Akatsuki wanted Naruto alive, he didn't doubt his brother could find some other way to use that kunai to harm his friend without necessarily killing him. Plus with Itachi's partner Kisame standing just off to the side, Sasuke had little confidence in getting close enough to Itachi to deal him a physical blow. Nor could he risk any kind of jutsu with Naruto so close to Itachi.

He was completely helpless…

Sasuke felt hot, boiling anger rise up inside him. He'd promised both himself and Naruto that he wouldn't let Akatsuki hurt him again. Once again he'd failed to protect his friend. Why could he never seem to protect those that mattered to him?

"We should leave now," Itachi's partner said. "We have what we came for."

Sasuke felt his heart clench in the middle of his chest. Gripping his kunai tighter he sank into a fighting stance. "You're not going anywhere!" he yelled. He couldn't let Itachi take his friend.

"Unfortunately, little brother, you aren't strong enough to stop us," Itachi smirked. "Your friend is coming with us…"

"That's what you think," a new voice yelled. "The boy stays here."

Sasuke, Itachi, Kisame, and Naruto's heads all snapped up towards the roof of the hospital. Sasuke felt an almost painful wave of hope and relief wash over him.

Standing there along the dark roofline of the hospital and surrounding buildings were several dozen ANBU along with Jiraiya, Kakashi, several of the other jounin-sensei, and Tsunade herself. A number of the old Rookie Nine and Team Gai were also there. If Sasuke wasn't mistaken, he also saw Gaara standing on one of the other buildings, flanked on either side by teams of elite Sand-nin. Gaara's black rimmed eyes were narrowed slits, his teeth bared in a dangerous snarl as he glared at Itachi and the helpless boy held against his chest. Even from a distance, Sasuke could hear the sand rattling inside the giant gourd on Gaara's back, as though demanding to be released and free to kill.

Jiraiya stepped closer to the edge of the roof, his hands clenched into fists by his sides. It was then that Sasuke recognized him as being the one that'd spoken earlier. "Let my student go," the Sannin growled. "If you hurt him, I swear I'll make you wish you were never born, Uchiha…" Sasuke was slightly taken aback by how frightened he suddenly was of the perverted old man. If Jiraiya was able to intimate him this much just by his voice, he never wanted to meet the old man in battle…

"You're completely surrounded, Itachi," Kakashi yelled. "Just release Naruto and surrender. There's no way for you to escape."

Itachi's eyes narrowed, warily scanning the rows of ninja lining the rooftops. Sasuke could almost see the wheels in Itachi's mind whirling, trying to figure out some way of escape. Even though an elite Akatsuki, Sasuke knew his brother knew he was cornered and outnumbered. There was no way he could make it out of the village with Naruto now…

"Let Naruto go," Sasuke once again hissed, taking a step closer to his teammate and estranged brother. "Give me back my friend…"

Itachi looked back at Sasuke, his blood-red eyes narrowing speculatively. His lips slowly curled into a sly grin which sent chills racing down Sasuke's spine.

He didn't like that look…

"Would you like to see what we were doing to your little friend these last nine months, brother?" Itachi asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Sasuke felt an unexplainable feeling of dread form in the bottom of his stomach. He took another step towards Itachi, his eyes locked on the blond figure held against his brother's chest. "Stop playing games, Itachi," he hissed. "You've lost. Just give up. Let Naruto go."

Itachi chuckled darkly under his breath. "But don't you want to see why your friend is so important to us?" he asked. "Don't you want to see what we're turning him into?"

Sasuke saw Naruto's eyes widen, his friend's body shaking so violently now it looked like he was about to collapse. His eyes were locked with Sasuke's, silently begging him for help. Itachi smirked as he glanced down at his terrified captive.

"Look at him, Sasuke," he murmured. "You would never know from looking at him what kind of power he holds inside. It took us so long to weaken his willpower. All we have to do now is break this and then the demon fox's power is ours…" As he spoke, Itachi lowered the kunai from Naruto's neck and pulled up the hem of Naruto's shirt, exposing the spiral curse seal on his stomach.

Naruto cried out and weakly tried to cringe away from Itachi's touch. He frantically squirmed in Itachi's grip but the older shinobi's just held him tighter, stilling his useless struggles. Tears streamed freely down the blond's emaciated cheeks.

"Let him go, you bastard!" Sasuke screamed, barely able to keep from lunging at his older brother. Rage burned inside him so fiercely now it was almost physically painful.

Somewhere above him, Sasuke heard the ninja on the surrounding rooftops anxiously shift in place, as if wanting to attack. The only thing stopping them, he knew, from actually doing so was the helpless boy still held hostage in Itachi's arms.

Itachi looked back up at Sasuke, an almost victorious smirk on his face. "Let's see what you think of what's hiding inside your friend…" Then, with no more warning, Itachi pressed his hand to the seal on Naruto's stomach - his Akatsuki ring flashing brightly in the moonlight - and murmured an unintelligible string of words.

Like tearing away the floodgates of some monstrous dam, fiery red chakra erupted from the seal on Naruto's stomach. Naruto screamed as his body jackknifed backwards in agony. Finally releasing his hold on the younger shinobi, Itachi let Naruto collapse to his knees. A visible aura of blood red chakra began to form around Naruto, encasing his body like a shield. The chakra seemed to bubble right up out of his skin. Cyclones of fire flared to life and swirled around him in the air.

"Naruto!" Sasuke screamed. As he watched the chakra began to take shape around Naruto, forming the indistinct form of a monstrous beast. Two chakra-ears sprouted from the sides of Naruto's head as did two sets of claws around his hands and feet. A tail budded from the bubbling aura of chakra and lashed the air behind the screaming boy like some kind of fiery whip.

Somewhere through his horror, Sasuke saw Itachi smirk at him, the light from Naruto's chakra illuminating his brother's features in a hellish orange and red glow. "Until we meet again, little brother," he said, bowing his head to Sasuke in mock formality. Then turning, he sped off with Kisame following close behind. Several teams of ANBU leapt down off the rooftops after them, but Itachi and Kisame darted down another street, disappearing into the darkness. The ANBU immediately took chase.

Sasuke stared after Itachi for a long moment of hesitation, torn between going after the one he'd once devoted his entire life to killing - even going so far as to almost kill his best friend - or staying with Naruto. But as another agonized scream suddenly pierced the air, Sasuke knew there never really was a choice between the two to begin with.

Turning back to the fiery mass of chakra that had become his friend, Sasuke rushed towards him, heedless of the roiling heat and flames. "Naruto, hold on!" he yelled over the deafening roar of fire. But before he could even get within even five yards of his friend, a sudden flare of chakra sent Sasuke flying backwards, singing the front of his clothes black.

Shakily pushing himself back up, Sasuke was about to try and go to his friend's aid again, only to be stopped by a strong hand on his shoulder.

"No, Sasuke, it's too dangerous!" It was Kakashi. He and the others had leapt down from the rooftops and were now standing in a wide circle around the chakra-encased boy, staring in horror. "Naruto's chakra is too strong! It'll kill you before you ever get near him!"

Frantically turning back towards Naruto, Sasuke was dismayed to note Kakashi was right. Even from a distance of thirty or more feet he could feel the heat from Naruto's chakra. He could actually feel his skin tighten and dry around him, like he was standing naked under a thousand burning suns. His throat and lungs burned. He could barely even breath anymore the air was so hot.

Three more tails had sprouted from the blood red shield of chakra. Naruto's screams still echoed from inside the fiery mass.

"Oh gods, what's happening to him?" Sakura cried somewhere off to Sasuke's right. "I've never felt anything so terrible in my life! I can barely stand it!" She wasn't the only one to cower away from the demonic storm of chakra.

"That is no ordinary chakra!" Neji yelled over the roar of flames. "No human could possibly produce so much energy!"

As they watched, the chakra surrounding Naruto suddenly changed color. Like some kind of dye being added to the roiling mass of unbridled power, the chakra shield - now in the unmistakable shape of a demon fox - turned a dark, inky black.

"We have to close the seal!" Jiraiya yelled, frantically stepping forward.

"What's going on with him, Jiraiya?" Tsunade cried.

"That chakra is killing Naruto!" the Sannin yelled. "It's physically injuring him. That dark coloring is blood seeping from Naruto's pores and mixing with Kyuubi's chakra. It happened once when his seal partially broke while I was training him. The only thing keeping him alive right now is Kyuubi's healing powers. But so many cycles of constant injury and re-healing drains him of strength and shortens his life span. And with Naruto as weak as he is right now it'll surely kill him!"

Sasuke wasn't the only one to stare at the Sannin in horror.

A fifth tail had begun to sprout from Naruto's fox-form.

"We have to reseal that power!" Kakashi cried. "Yamato!" he yelled at one of the remaining ANBU that hadn't chased after Itachi, "you have to help! You're the only one that can control that seal."

"But, senpai," the man yelled over the stinging, chakra-laced winds whipping the air around them, "I'm not strong enough to reseal so much chakra! He's too powerful for me to control now!"

"What if we lent you some of our chakra?" Gai-sensei shouted. "Could you reseal Kyuubi then?"

The man looked uncertain, his eyes darting between the demonic chakra-fox and the two jounin.

"It doesn't matter if you think you can or not, Yamato, you have to try!" Tsunade yelled. "That's an order! If we don't reseal that boy soon he's going to die!"

For a moment, Yamato still looked hesitant. But then, his eyes hardening with resolve, he stepped closer to the ring of ninja surrounding Naruto. "I will need at least six others to lend me their strength," he said. "Those that are willing to help spread out in a circle around him."

Without hesitation Jiraiya, Kakashi, Gai, and Tsunade moved to do as they were directed. Gaara quickly stepped forward, his black rimmed eyes narrowed in Naruto's direction. "He will not last much longer," he murmured just loud enough for Sasuke to hear over Naruto's endless litany of screams and deafening roar of chakra before disappearing in a whirlwind of sand to Naruto's other side. There was half a second's pause as Sasuke stared after the red-haired Sand-nin before snapping himself back to reality and taking a position around his friend's glowing form. Despite several odd looks cast Sasuke's way, several more of the Rookie Nine also stepped forward to lend their chakra.

The tip of a sixth tail had begun to bud. Naruto's screams were now all but drowned out by the roar of chakra.

"Ready?" Yamato yelled and thrust his hand out towards Naruto's now pitch black form. Sinking into a low stance, the jounin closed his eyes and began to murmur a hypnotic, chant-like string of words.

Almost immediately, Sasuke felt a pull of chakra leave his body, drawn to the mysterious ANBU ninja's jutsu. Yamato's body began to glow blue as he focused the offered chakra on the his target. As Sasuke watched in tense anticipation, he saw the sixth tail sprouting from Naruto's fox-form waver, then slowly recede back into the main body of chakra. For several moments, nothing else visible happened. But then, like the demon fox's power being sucked back inside its human vessel, the shield of chakra surrounding Naruto suddenly disappeared, almost as if it had never even been there at all.

Sasuke let out a long breath of air he hadn't even been aware he'd been holding as he felt Yamato release the jutsu drawing his chakra from him.

Like a marionette with its strings suddenly cut, Naruto's body fell limp to the ground. Everything within a twenty foot radius of the blond shinobi was now nothing but a circle of scorched earth. The smell of burnt ozone hung heavily in the air. Without hesitation, they all rushed towards the motionless figure laying in the middle of the charred, shallow crater.

Jiraiya was the first to reach Naruto. Dropping to his knees beside his student, the Sannin quickly rolled Naruto over onto his back. The boy's clothes were singed and soaked with blood. Every inch of Naruto's body was covered with burns, cuts and violent purple bruises, as if someone had just beaten him to within an inch of his life. Sasuke was terrified to note how still his friend lay there, his eyes tightly closed. Jiraiya also noticed and leaned down over Naruto.

"Tsunade, he's not breathing!" he yelled, panic in his voice.

The female Sannin pushed herself to Naruto's side. Pressing two fingers to Naruto's throat, Tsunade's eyes widened. "I can't feel a pulse," she said. "Everyone give me room!"

The other ninja immediately obeyed, but remained in a tight circle around the unconscious boy and medic-nin, watching the unfolding drama in numb kind of horror.

Leaning over the boy's limp form, Tsunade pressed the heels of both her hands to Naruto's chest. In quick succession she pumped them several times against his heart. Pinching his nose shut, she then swooped down to push a deep breath of air into his lungs. Receiving no kind of response from the unconscious boy, Tsunade once again began to push her hands against Naruto's chest. "Come on, kid, you've got to work with me!" she cried, and leaned back down to deliver another puff of air. Coming back up, Tsunade frantically pumped Naruto's chest again. "Come on, Naruto! Breathe!"

As Tsunade continued to try and revive the unconscious boy Sasuke heard Sakura begin to sob somewhere off to his side. The others all stood around the two in stunned silence, watching their Hokage desperately try to save their friend and comrade. Tears shined in several of their eyes.

As the seconds ticked by and Tsunade still received no kind of response from the boy, she finally gave up on CPR with a frustrated cry. "Dammit!" Quickly slipping one hand under Naruto's back, she held her other hand up over his heart. "Jiraiya, get back," she ordered before closing her eyes and concentrating a small amount of chakra in the palm of her hand. Forming it into a visible ball, she released it in a sharp burst against Naruto's chest.

Naruto's body lifelessly flopped on the ground, his head lolling to the side. Gritting her teeth, Tsunade concentrated another ball of chakra and released it in an even sharper burst against Naruto's chest.

Naruto's body once more jumped and flopped back down. Tsunade was about to concentrate another ball, but just then with a painful gasp, Naruto's body suddenly arched up over the ground back to life. Coughing and gasping for air, the boy began to weakly writhe, his eyes clenched shut in agony.

Tsunade choked back a sob of relief as did almost everyone else there. But their relief was short lived.

"Kyuubi's healing powers aren't kicking in," Jiraiya said, anxiously leaning forward over his student. "He's not starting to heal like he should be."

Sasuke was sickened to note the Sannin was right. With Naruto's heart once again beating, he saw blood begin to sluggishly seep from the cuts and burns littering his friend's body. Nor did he fail to notice the frightening way Naruto's body had begun to shake and twitch in silent agony on the ground.

"We have to get him back into the hospital," Tsunade said, pressing her hand to Naruto's forehead. "He's going into shock, and I can feel his blood pressure starting to drop. He's losing too much blood."

Not wasting any time, Jiraiya slipped his arms under Naruto's knees and shoulder and lifted the almost weightless boy up into his burly arms. Naruto's head lifelessly hung over Jiraiya's elbow, his blood-smeared face slack as he slowly slipped into chakra-induced shock. Without another word the Sannin took off back in the direction of the hospital, Tsunade and her bodyguards following close behind.

Left behind in the charred crater of his friend's chakra, Sasuke could not nothing more than stare after them, his promise to never let Akatsuki touch his friend again echoing hauntingly in the back of his mind…

To Be Continued…

Well? Any thoughts? I know Itachi might have seemed to get away rather easily, but he's a crafty bastard. He used the chaos caused by Naruto's seal breaking to escape. Any thoughts?

PLEASE REVIEW!

that means you lazy lurkers too! I know you're out there.


	7. Fading Hope

_Warning_: Some gore early in the chapter. Consider it an early Halloween present.

**Chapter Seven: Fading Hope**

Sasuke stood on the edge of a small clearing. The moon hung high above him in the sky, bathing the clearing in silvery-blue light. The silence of the surrounding forest was almost deafening.

In the middle of the clearing a body lay facedown on the ground, marinating in a pool of blood. Shakily stepping into the clearing, Sasuke began to move towards it, as if drawn there by some invisible, supernatural force.

_No… Not again… Please don't let this be happening again_, Sasuke's thoughts echoed pleadingly through his mind.

Carefully stepping up to the body, Sasuke knelt beside the mutilated corpse. Its face was turned down into the ground; its features hidden, its hair and clothes too soaked with blood to tell their original colors. Even though the boy couldn't see the body's face, he somehow knew - like a sickening premonition - what he was going to find.

Hesitantly, he slipped shaking hands underneath its head and turned it towards him, exposing its blood smeared face to the moonlight. A strangled sob broke from his throat as tears blurred his vision.

"No… Not again," he moaned as he looked down into Naruto Uzumaki's lifeless blue eyes. "Please not again…" Cradling his friend's bloody head in his hands, the boy bent down over it, fighting back the waves of anguish that threatened to rip his heart to pieces. A single tear slipped down his cheek as another sob tore itself from his throat.

"Why didn't you save me?"

Sasuke startled and leapt backwards, his friend's head rolling from his hands back onto the ground. As he sat there, staring in horror, Naruto gazed up at him, his dead blue eyes shining in the moonlight.

"Why didn't you save me, Sasuke?" the corpse again asked, its voice echoing eerily through the silent clearing. "You promised me you would…"

Sasuke couldn't find his voice to speak, too horrified to form any words as Naruto slowly pulled himself up off the ground, still staring at Sasuke with accusing, empty blue eyes. The blond's head hung limply down the middle of his chest, like the head of a cattail dangling from its broken stalk. Sasuke could see two small bumps protruding from the back of Naruto's neck, marking the place where the vertebrae in the blond's spine had been brutally snapped in two. Blood dripped from the ends of Naruto's hair back into the surrounding pool of gore. As Naruto sat back on his heels to face him, Sasuke saw the gapping slash across his friend's stomach, exposing a mass of glistening wet entrails.

"You said you'd protect me," the corpse said, still staring at him with lifeless blue eyes. "You said you wouldn't let Akatsuki get me…"

"I'm sorry," Sasuke sobbed, tears now streaming down his face. "I tried to stop them, I swear. I'm so sorry…"

"You said you wouldn't let anyone hurt me," Naruto rasped. His entire body was drenched in blood, drops of crimson dripping from his face, fingers and hair. "You said you'd keep me safe. Now look at me…"

"I'm sorry!" Sasuke wailed. "I tried!"

"You promised me, Sasuke…" Naruto whispered, his lifeless eyes staring at him accusingly. "You said you'd protect me… You lied."

"I couldn't stop them! They were too strong! I tried to protect you!"

"You lied to me, Sasuke… I believed you…"

Sasuke covered both his ears, as if trying to block out the corpse's painful words. "I'm sorry!" he screamed. "I tried to stop them!"

"I believed you… You said you'd protect me…"

"I'm sorry!"

"You lied to me…"

"I didn't mean to!"

"Lied to me…"

"I wasn't strong enough!"

"Lied…"

"_Sasuke…"_

"I'm sorry!"

"_Sasuke."_

"I tried to stop them! I swear!"

"_SASUKE!"_

The boy woke with a start, bolting upright in his chair. A blanket that'd been draped over him went flying to the floor. Eyes wide and breathing hard, Sasuke wildly looked around, unsure of where he even was. It took him a moment to realize there was someone else beside him with a hand resting on his shoulder. His head snapping up towards its owner, the boy was startled to find his former sensei, Kakashi, standing there.

"Sasuke, it's alright. You were just dreaming," the jounin said, gripping Sasuke's shoulder tighter as if to reassure the boy he was real.

Sucking in a ragged breath of air, Sasuke stared at the silver-haired ninja for several moments, his entire body shaking. Lifting a trembling hand to his face he was startled to find his cheeks cold and unexplainably wet.

"It's okay, Sasuke," Kakashi murmured, staring at his student with one worried eye. "It was just a dream…"

Wiping the wetness from face, Sasuke took a deep breath to regain his composure. Slowly calming, he looked around. He sat at the end of a long, sterile white hallway on a bank of chairs set against the wall. At the other end of the hall he could see nurses and people in medical robes moving about. Two ANBU were also standing guard there. Pale morning sunlight filtered in through the windows.

Memories of the previous night suddenly came back to Sasuke in a tidal wave of images. Akatsuki attacking… Itachi grabbing Naruto… Naruto engulfed in a fiery shield of chakra… Trying to go to his friend's aide… Naruto collapsing to the ground, not breathing… Tsunade and Jiraiya taking him back into the hospital… Waiting to be allowed to see his friend… Kakashi coming to wait with him in the hall… And then…

He couldn't remember.

Pushing the hair back from his face, Sasuke shakily sat up his chair, wincing as his neck gave a painful twinge from the position he'd fallen asleep in. "What happened?" he rasped, hiding his still tear-reddened eyes from his sensei's perceptive gaze behind a curtain of bangs. "I don't remember falling asleep out here."

"You haven't slept for the last two nights," Kakashi explained, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked down at his student. "You've been so caught up worrying about Naruto you haven't done anything to take care of yourself. I could see it last night while you were waiting for Tsunade to come out. You're wearing yourself out. So knowing how stubborn you can be at times - especially when it comes to your own health - I did a small sleeping jutsu to make sure you didn't make yourself sick."

Sasuke glared at Kakashi. "You knocked me out with a jutsu?" he hissed.

"I knew you weren't going to listen to me, so I had to take measures into my own hands," Kakashi casually replied. "I've been your sensei long enough to know how you work, Sasuke…"

The boy glared at his teacher, angry that he'd done something so conniving as to knock him out with a jutsu. But then again, he knew everything Kakashi had said was true. He wouldn't have listened to him…

Pushing himself to his feet, Sasuke silently glanced at the door several yards down the hall from where he'd woken up.

As if reading his student's mind, Kakashi followed his gaze and said, "The Hokage came out a few hours ago. She says Naruto's stable now. You can go in anytime you want."

"How is he?" Sasuke softly asked.

Kakashi gave a heavy sigh, scuffing one foot against the ground. His one eye grew solemn and distant. "Tsunade said he's extremely weak. He needed several blood transfusions and his chakra level is still erratic and unnaturally low. She tried to strengthen the curse seal on his stomach, but he's too weak right now to risk doing any powerful jutsu on it. He's very lucky to even be alive…"

Sasuke said nothing in response, still staring at the innocuous looking door. Images of his dream suddenly flashed in the back of his mind. With a horrifying jolt he remembered Naruto's dead eyes staring back at him, damning him for his failure with their empty blue gaze. He remembered the blond's haunting words and… the blood. Oh gods, the blood… He could still see in his mind's eye that pool of crimson shining darkly in the moonlight…

"Are you alright, Sasuke?" Kakashi's voice drifted through his thoughts, bringing him back to the present. "I heard you murmuring in your sleep. Were you having some kind of nightmare?" The silver-haired jounin was studying him with his one good eye. His Sharingan was still covered by his forehead protector, but that didn't stop Sasuke from feeling as though the older ninja was somehow trying to look into his soul.

For a moment, he didn't answer, images of his dream once again resurfacing like some hellish slideshow in the back of his mind. "No," Sasuke finally murmured, brusquely turning towards the door just down the hall. "I don't remember having any kind of dream. I don't know what you're talking about…" He began to walk towards it. But before he could even get several feet Kakashi's voice drifted after him, making him falter in his footsteps.

"Naruto doesn't blame you for what happened, Sasuke. It wasn't your fault."

Sasuke froze, his entire body going stiff. For several heartbeats of unbroken silence the boy just stood there, staring ahead with his back to Kakashi. Slowly, he turned back towards his former sensei.

"You don't know that," he hoarsely whispered, unable to meet Kakashi's gaze. His face was bowed, half-hidden by long black bangs. "You don't know what Naruto thinks. It was my fault I couldn't get him away in time, or keep Itachi from grabbing him. I should have been able to protect him. I promised him I wouldn't let Akatsuki touch him again. It was my fault he almost died…"

"It wasn't your fault, Sasuke," Kakashi calmly insisted. "If it's anybody's fault Naruto got hurt it was ours. We didn't think Akatsuki would try to directly attack the hospital. That's why there were only several ANBU standing guard around the building and two outside the door. You shouldn't have had to be expected to try and defend him all by yourself against a team of Akatsuki agents and S-class ninja. Not even I could have protected him long as you did given the odds. You did what you could and stalled Itachi long enough for reinforcements to arrive. No one could have asked any more from you than what you did."

"You don't understand!" Sasuke snarled, angrily rounding on Kakashi. "It's my fault Akatsuki ever got a hold of Naruto in the first place! I knew they were after Naruto before. I should have known they would have eventually come after him again. If I'd been paying more attention instead of looking for Itachi I could have been there to stop them! I could have kept them from ever getting Naruto!"

"Sasuke, there was no way you could have known that," Kakashi calmly said, studying his student's angry, guilt-ridden face. "It wasn't anybody's fault Naruto was kidnapped. You have to stop blaming yourself."

"Stop telling me what to do," Sasuke hissed, turning away from Kakashi back towards the door. "I'm no longer your student."

"You'll always be my student, whether officially or not," Kakashi said, stepping closer, "and as my student you're going to listen to what I have to say. Nothing that happened to Naruto was your fault. You couldn't have stopped Akatsuki from taking him even if you had been there the first time they attacked. You protected him as well as you could have last night, and no one is saying otherwise. He's still here in Konoha because you were there to stall Itachi. You couldn't have done anything to stop Itachi from breaking Naruto's curse seal either. Akatsuki's been hacking away at it for the last nine months, and with Naruto as sick as he is right now it didn't take much for Itachi to weaken it enough for Kyuubi's chakra to break out. You have to stop blaming yourself. Guilt doesn't do anyone any good. If you really want to help Naruto then stop blaming yourself and commit yourself to protecting him. He needs you right now. You're one of the few people he trusts anymore. Your guilt is blinding you to what you need to do. He doesn't need some guilty bodyguard. He needs a friend that will be there to look out for him and protect him, and you're the only one that can do that."

Sasuke stood there in silence as Kakashi spoke, his face bowed to his chest. The jounin's words washed over him, somehow painful and encouraging all at the same time. Deep down he knew Kakashi was right - that it wasn't his fault that Naruto was kidnapped - but he still couldn't shake the lingering feeling there was something else he could have done to protect his friend.

Stepping up behind Sasuke, Kakashi put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Come on. Tsunade said Naruto will probably be waking up soon. I know he'll want you to be there when he does."

Not trusting himself to say anything in response, Sasuke just sullenly nodded and let the older ninja guide him towards the door. A barely audible knock was the only thing Kakashi gave to announce their arrival before pushing the door open.

The hospital room was filled with muted morning sunlight - the shades on all the windows drawn. As Sasuke and Kakashi stepped inside, Sasuke saw Tsunade and Jiraiya standing on the other side of the room, speaking together in hushed tones. Iruka sat close beside the only hospital bed in the room, his face shadowed with worry and unspeakable heartache. And laying there in bed…

Sasuke felt his heart twist in the middle of his chest.

Naruto's lay like a tiny island in a sea of bedding. His frail body was barely even visible under all the blankets. Wires, tubes, and IV lines snaked off his arms and chest to half a dozen beeping, humming machines on either side of the bed - like they were the only things tethering the boy to life. An oxygen mask had been fitted over Naruto's nose and mouth, covering the lower half of his face. His body was a violently painted tapestry of pain. Purple bruises, raw cuts and burn covered almost every inch of the boy's ghostly pale skin - almost the same shade of white as the very sheets he lay against.

Sasuke felt the lingering trace of guilt Kakashi had helped suppress but not completely banish come roaring back to life, drowning him in a flood of anguish. This wasn't right. This shouldn't have happened. Naruto barely looked alive. If it wasn't for the rhythmic beeping of the machines around him, Sasuke was sure he would have thought his friend dead.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Iruka all looked up at Kakashi and Sasuke's entrance.

"Kakashi," Tsunade said, her voice carefully low as she stepped towards them, "do you have a report from the outer defenses yet?"

The copy-ninja shook his head. "No. We still don't know how Akatsuki got into the village. None of the ninja standing guard last night saw anyone trying to get over the wall or through the gates. We don't know how they managed to make it back out of the village either. Itachi and his partner disappeared before ANBU could catch up with them and stop them."

"Damn it…" Jiraiya hissed, angrily turning away back towards the shuttered window. The Sannin's anger was almost tangible. "They're breaking through our defenses easier and easier. If we don't find some way to stop them soon, they're going to overrun the village."

"Unfortunately, we don't have the manpower needed to enforce the village's defenses anymore than it already is," Tsunade sighed, rubbing her forehead as if fighting back the onset of a terrible headache. "Our forces were severely depleted after our attack on that Akatsuki base. With our resources already stretched thin from fighting both Sound and Akatsuki, patrolling the borders, and defending the village itself, we're lucky we were able to respond to the attack last night as fast as we did. We're slowly being overwhelmed…"

"Can't we ask for assistance from Sand or one of our other allies?" Iruka tentatively asked.

Tsunade wearily shook her head. "Gaara has already given us more assistance than we could have ever asked him for. He also has to think about the welfare of his own people. It wasn't just Leaf-nin that died in that attack on Akatsuki. There were also Sand-nin… We can't hope for any kind of direct help from our other allies either because they're afraid of becoming targets for Sound and Akatsuki too."

"We still should have had more guards posted around Naruto though," Jiraiya murmured, his back to the rest of them. "We thought Akatsuki might come after him again, and we didn't do enough to properly ensure he was safe…"

"It… wasn't your fault…" a raspy voice - barely louder than a whisper and as rough as sandpaper - suddenly spoke up.

Everyone's head snapped towards the bed. Naruto lay there swathed in blankets with his eyes barely open -as if his eyelids were too heavy to fully lift them - with only the faintest hint of blue showing through his dark tangles of eyelashes. As they watched, Naruto slowly, painfully lifted one IV riddled hand up and pulled the oxygen mask down from his face.

"It wouldn't… have mattered…" he rasped, visibly struggling to put thoughts into coherent words. His breathing was labored, as if the simple effort of speaking was almost too much for him to manage. "Akatsuki would've… just found… some other way… to get me…" he whispered.

"Naruto," Iruka said, anxiously leaning forward. "Don't push yourself. You need to rest. Don't worry, you're safe now. Here-" he said, and began to lift the oxygen mask back onto the boy's face. But Naruto just lolled his head to the side to avoid it.

"No…" he croaked, weakly shaking his head. "I don't want it…"

By now the others had begun to gather around Naruto's bed, sorrowfully surveying the damage done to their friend, student, and foster son. Sasuke hovered near the foot of the bed, hesitant to come any closer. Everything Kakashi had said before was nothing but meaningless words in the back of his head now as he stared at the wretched remains of his friend and former teammate.

"Oh, Naruto…" Tsunade murmured, coming up to the other side of Naruto's bed across from Iruka. She tenderly ran her fingers through Naruto's hair, petting it back from the boy's bruised and swollen face. There were tears in the Hokage's eyes.

"How you feeling, kid?" Jiraiya asked, leaning closer to Naruto around Tsunade.

"Like I want to die…" the boy rasped.

An almost visible wave of pain passed over the faces of everyone there. By those five simple words Sasuke felt as though someone had just driven a dull blade through his heart and twisted it.

"Don't say that, Naruto," Iruka pleaded, leaning over him. "It's going to be alright, I promise. You've just got to hold on."

"But it hurts so much…" Naruto whimpered, staring at Iruka as though begging the chuunin to somehow stop the pain. Sasuke saw Iruka visibly have to fight to keep his composure, tears shining brightly in the older man's eyes.

"Don't worry, Naruto," Tsunade said, "we'll get you some more pain medication."

Closing his eyes, Naruto buried the side of his face in the pillow, tears beading along his eyelashes. "Kyuubi almost got out, didn't it?" he choked, his voice hitched with the effort it took to keep it from trembling. "I can feel it getting stronger… It's trying to get out… I can feel it clawing at the back of my mind… like it wants to take over my body…"

"We're not going to let that happen," Tsunade said as reassuringly as she could. "Once you get a little stronger, Jiraiya and I are going to strengthen the Fourth's seal. We'll make it so you can't feel Kyuubi anymore. But you have to get a little stronger first. If we try to do any kind of Sealing jutsu right now, we'd probably only hurt you. That's why you have to get a little better - so we can help you. Do you understand?"

Naruto didn't immediately answer, his face still burrowed in the pillow as if trying to somehow escape his suffering. "I don't know if I can…" he finally muttered, his voice painfully weak and devoid of hope. "I don't know if I can get any better…"

If such a thing was possibly, Sasuke saw the Hokage's heart literally break. "You have to try for me," she whispered, her voice dangerously tight as she reached out and gripped Naruto's frail, tube-infested hand in her own. "You have to keep fighting."

"I've been fighting… for so long…" Naruto sobbed, his misery almost tangible. "I don't know if I want to fight anymore. Akatsuki kept trying to break the seal… kept dragging me into that cave to do that weird ceremony… It felt like I was getting ripped apart every time they did it… They kept doing what Itachi did… weakening the seal so Kyuubi's power could get out. I kept fighting them… kept trying to keep Kyuubi in… But it's getting so hard to do… I'm just so tired of fighting… I can feel the seal getting weaker all the time… I just want it to end. Next time I know I won't be able to hold Kyuubi in…"

"We're not going to let that happen," Kakashi said, leaning forward. "Even if we have to sneak you out of Konoha to someplace they'll never find you, we aren't going to let Akatsuki get you."

"Could we maybe sneak him into Sand?" Iruka asked, hopefully looking up at Tsunade. "I'm sure the Kazekage would take him in, and he could offer Naruto the same amount of protection as we can here, if not more. Sand has a much stronger defensive force than us right now."

"It would be a good plan assuming we could actually get Naruto there safely," Tsunade said. "It's more than several days' journey there by foot, and with Naruto as sick as he is right now it's too much of a risk. We'd have to send half our available ninja with him to offer any kind of protection from being attacked on the road. It's just too dangerous…"

Iruka bowed his head dejectedly - knowing everything the Hokage had said was true - and turned his attention back onto his injured, hurting student. As if trying to silently reassure the boy they'd find some other way to protect him, he began to rhythmically stroke the hair from Naruto's face with his fingertips.

"If we can't move him somewhere outside the village, then where else can we hide him?" Sasuke finally spoke up, looking between the group of adults expectantly with narrowed eyes. "He can't stay here in the hospital. Akatsuki knows exactly where he is. It's too dangerous for him to stay here anymore. We've already seen how poor the security is. He has to be taken somewhere where he'll actually be safe."

"Unfortunately, there aren't many places I know of that we could take him," Tsunade replied. "There is always Hokage tower, but it doesn't have the room or facilities needed to care for Naruto right now. It's also one of the first places Akatsuki might think to look for him if he's not in the hospital. We need someplace that's inconspicuous and out of the way."

An idea sparked in the back of Sasuke's mind, but he hesitated, wondering if it was really something he was willing to suggest. But as he stared at Naruto's frail form laying in silent agony on the bed, he knew it was possibly one of the only ways left to ensure his friend's safety.

"What about the Uchiha family mansion?" he said, looking up to meet Tsunade's gaze. "My family compound is mostly empty with several dozen spare rooms and apartments. We could hide Naruto in any of them without anyone on the outside knowing. It's also secluded and would be easier to guard than a public building like this where people are moving in and out of it all day."

Iruka, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi all stared at him, their expressions one of surprise, but then growing consideration. One by one, they turned to Tsunade to hear her decision.

For a moment she quietly studied Sasuke. Then nodding her head, she said, "That could work. When is the earliest you could have a room ready for him?"

"As soon as we can sneak him out of here," Sasuke replied.

Tsunade nodded. "Fine then. It's settled. Kakashi, form a team of ANBU to act as guards. They will have to dress inconspicuously. We need to move quickly but without anyone noticing we're moving Naruto to another place."

The silver-haired jounin nodded and began to head for the door to ready his team. Jiraiya and Iruka also stood, preparing for the injured shinobi's move. But as Sasuke glanced down at his friend still laying there silently on the bed, he was dismayed to note the dead look in Naruto half-shuttered eyes, as if he'd already given up his will to try and fight anymore…

* * *

"You complete and utter fool!" The shadows shook with the wrath of the one shrouded in their inky darkness. "You almost killed the demon vessel. What were you thinking?" 

"I was thinking about how I was going to get away from several squads of pesky ANBU," Itachi calmly replied, his demeanor one of complete indifference. Around him his fellow Akatsuki members shifted nervously as the outline of their leader began to almost physically radiate death. Itachi, however, seemed unconcerned. "If anything, it was amusing to see my little brother's expression at seeing his friend's curse seal break."

"I don't care about whatever issues you have with your remaining family, Uchiha," their leader hissed. "If that boy had died, you would have ruined any chance of us ever obtaining the demon fox's power."

"He's still alive," Itachi sniffed. "Our informants inside the village say he was successfully revived."

"I don't care how you do it, I want that boy back," their leader hissed. "_Now_."

"You will be interested to know then that my dear brother has decided to try and hide his friend away in our family's old mansion," Itachi said, his Sharingan shining evilly in the darkness. "Our Konoha spies say he was moved there earlier this evening. We can sneak into the mansion just like we've snuck into Konoha every other time we've attacked. That secret tunnel beneath the Uchiha family shrine has proved useful on more than one occassion. Sasuke doesn't know he's just moved his friend even closer within our grasp."

"Very well," their leader's voice rumbled, as if resonating from the very shadows themselves. "But this time I'm sending all of you. I want the boy back and will accept no more failure. That demon fox's power will be ours…"

To Be Continued…

Uh oh… This can't be good. Please tell me what you think. My birthday is coming up this next Wednesday (Nov. 1st) so any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. Consider it an early birthday wish. 8D


	8. Invasion

**Chapter Eight: Invasion**

"We have two teams of ANBU patrolling the outer perimeter of the compound, and two more patrolling the inner grounds," Kakashi said. The moonlight spilling through the open shoji doors behind him that led out into one of the Uchiha compound's many inner courtyards illuminated the copy-ninja's hair in a brilliant wash of silver. His one eye darted from face to face of his assembled group of listeners - Sasuke, Sakura, and Jiraiya - and the motionless figure of his other student Naruto laying under heavy blankets on a single futon in the middle of the room. "Asuma, Gai, and Kurenai's teams are also standing guard at different points throughout the mansion and outside it. We even have several of them up on the roofs. There's no way Akatsuki's getting inside here."

"How long do we plan to keep Naruto under such heavy security?" Sakura asked, her green eyes flitting over her shoulder back towards her former teammate.

"For as long as it takes," Jiraiya replied. The Sannin's arms were crossed in front of his chest, his body language tense as if daring anyone to argue with him as he followed the girl's gaze. "We've already underestimated Akatsuki once and seen what they can do. They're after Naruto and don't seem to be deterred by the presence of ANBU or any other ninja. They attacked that hospital with hardly a second thought. They're desperate to get Naruto back, and if the intensity and timing of their attacks are any indication they want him back as soon as possible. That's why we have so many people watching him. Even though we've hidden him, we're not going to take any more chances. If those bastards want Naruto that bad, then they'd going to have to fight off all of us first."

Kakashi nodded. "Hn," he hummed in agreement, "hopefully they won't think to look for him here though. We moved Naruto as stealthfully as we could have given the circumstances, but I'm not about to let my guard down. Akatsuki is getting harder and harder to anticipate. Their attack on the hospital just proves how bad our defenses have become since Akatsuki's turned all their attention onto destroying Konoha." Sighing, the silver-haired copy ninja stared at the tatami floor for several minutes of personal reflection before coming back to himself. "At least Sasuke was kind enough to offer us the use of his family's mansion," he said with a forced smile to his voice. "I'm not sure where else we could have hidden Naruto otherwise."

Sasuke said nothing in response, and stared at Kakashi with unreadable black eyes.

Standing up from where he knelt in the doorway, Kakashi dusted his pants off and turned to leave. "I want to check the perimeter one last time. If there's any weak point here, it's going to be trying to patrol the entire length of walls lining the compound. I have to admit, Sasuke, I never thought your family's estate was so large."

"This compound itself covers over an acre of land," Sasuke replied, his tone indifferent. "The surrounding land and buildings that used to be owned by other members of the Uchiha clan are estimated to be almost one-twentieth of all the property in Konoha."

Kakashi seemed unfazed by this knowledge, but Sakura's eyes nearly bulged out of her head at her former crush's estimated wealth.

"I'll be back soon," Kakashi said, turning towards the door. "Jiraiya said he'll stay here to help watch over Naruto. After that hospital attack, we're going to have at least two people guarding him at all times. Sakura, Tsunade said you'd be able to monitor Naruto's health and deal with any medical issues that might come up. Are you going to be alright watching him?"

"Of course, Kakashi-sensei," she replied. "Tsunade-sama taught me everything she knows. I don't think there's much that could go wrong anyway while you're gone. Tsunade said the most I'd probably have to do for Naruto right now is monitor his pain and help him rest as comfortably as possible."

Kakashi nodded. "You do that then. Sasuke," he said, glancing at his dark-haired student. He paused a moment, as if searching for the right words to say. "Keep an eye on Naruto," he said. And then he was gone.

Sasuke silently stared after him.

Behind him, Sasuke heard Jiraiya get up from where he'd been kneeling and move to the far side of the room, as if to make himself an inconspicuous supervisor of the other two. Sakura also stood and began to move to Naruto's side. It had been decided before Naruto's removal from the hospital that given the need for privacy and seclusion in hiding the blond, that he could be better protected in one of the Uchiha mansion's older wings which were furnished in the more traditional style of tatami mats and shoji screens. Sasuke wasn't sure he really liked that idea given the resistance paper screens and rush mats would have against sharp weapons and who knew how many teams of determined ninja trying to abduct his friend. But faced with the knowledge the more modern areas of the mansion where he himself resided would probably be one of the first places enemy-nin would look for his friend, he resigned himself to the knowledge that this was probably the best setup for protecting Naruto.

Sakura knelt down beside Naruto and gently pressed the back of her hand against his cheek. "He still feels cold," she murmured. "That's usually a sign of heavy blood loss; there's not enough blood in the system to help circulate warmth."

Sasuke got up to kneel on Naruto's other side across from Sakura. "Is there anything you can do to help with that?" he asked.

"Nothing more than add a few more blankets, but he already has three plus a coverlet. I don't think any more would really help," she replied, her eyes downcast as she examined their battered teammate. "It's strange seeing him like this," she murmured, concentrating a small amount of chakra in her palms which she held up over Naruto to check his vitals. "I still remember him bouncing around everywhere like a little kid that's had too much sugar." Finding everything normal, she withdrew her hands and settled them in her lap. "It's kind of ironic," she said with an empty chuckle, "I never thought I'd ever actually wish he'd act like his old knucklehead self…" Tears suddenly appeared in the corners of the pink-haired koinoichi's eyes. "Do you think that's selfish of me?" she sniffed, looking up at Sasuke as she stubbornly fought to keep her tears from falling, "-that I wish he'd act all happy and innocent again even after everything he's been through?"

"No," Sasuke murmured, shaking his head, "because I want the same thing…"

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the room as the two knelt there beside their teammate, lost in their own thoughts and emotions. Sniffing softly, Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and tentatively brushed several strands of hair from Naruto's face as if needing the physical contact to help reassure herself he'd be alright. Even in the dim shadows of the room, the bruises and burns littering her teammate's face from Kyuubi's chakra the day before were still painfully visible. His inherent healing powers still had yet to surface and heal any of the damage.

As Sakura gently smoothed the unruly bangs from her teammate's face, Naruto suddenly stirred. Groaning under his breath his eyelids sluggishly slid apart to look up at Sakura and Sasuke. He instinctively tensed at the sight of them leaning over him, but then relaxed again as recognition washed over him.

"I'm sorry I woke you," Sakura whispered, still stroking Naruto's hair. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto groggily lay there for several moments, not answering. He seemed too weak to fully wake up. "What time is it?" he finally slurred, looking towards the open shoji door and the long shadows cast by the moon.

"A little after ten," Sasuke replied, leaning closer to the other boy. It was getting more and more difficult to hear Naruto with each passing day. It made Sasuke wonder how much weaker his friend's voice could possibly get.

"You should try to eat something," Sakura said. "You didn't eat anything today, and you're so thin."

"I'm not hungry," Naruto rasped, his eyelids drooping half close. "Maybe later…"

"I'm serious, Naruto," Sakura said, beginning to rummage through a bag of medical supplies she'd brought. "You'll never get any better if you don't do anything to help yourself. I have some ration bars in here that-"

"Sakura."

The girl instantly fell silent and looked up at her other teammate.

Sasuke knelt across from her, staring at her with an intense look in his eyes. They seemed to stare right down into her. "Just let him be," he said, glancing back down at Naruto. "Forcing him to eat isn't going to do any good."

"But-" Sakura persisted.

"Just let him be," Sasuke said, shaking his head. He glanced towards the opposite side of the room where two other futons lay spread out across the floor. "Why don't you go rest. There's nothing more you can do right now. I'll watch over him."

The pink-haired koinoichi seemed at a loss, unsure of what to do. But then, as if reading the unspoken message in the Uchiha heir's eyes, she nodded solemnly. "Alright," she murmured, slowly getting to her feet. "I'll come back and check on him in a few hours…" Then giving Naruto one last look, she headed towards one of the extra futons to lay down.

Sasuke silently watched as she got under the covers and laid down with her back to them. He knew she wasn't going to actually get any sleep though. She was stubborn like that. But at least she was smart enough to pick up on his subtle message that any use of force right now would probably only make Naruto less likely to comply or listen to anything they said - even if it was for his own good.

"I'm not going to make you eat, but you should at least drink some water," Sasuke said, reaching for a glass on a small tray that'd been set beside Naruto's futon earlier. "You'll get dehydrated if you don't."

The other boy seemed too tired and sick to do anything more than weakly groan in protest.

"No excuses," Sasuke said, slipping one hand under Naruto's head to help lift it off the pillow while he held the glass to Naruto's lips with the other. "Drink."

There was no room for protest in the Uchiha's voice. Sighing in defeat - giving up far more easily than Sasuke ever would have expected the old Naruto to - the boy reluctantly sipped the offered water. Finally satisfied when Naruto had finished half the glass, Sasuke removed the cup from Naruto's lips and let him lay his head back down.

Setting the glass back on the tray, Sasuke knelt beside Naruto, quietly studying him out of the corner of his eye for several moments. "Why are you acting like this?" he finally asked, putting voice to the question that'd been weighing on his mind for some time now since finding his friend still alive.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto rasped. His eyes were barely open, his voice barely audible.

"Like this," Sasuke replied, a hint of anger tainting his words, "like you've totally given up your will to fight. You never would have done that before. What happened to the Naruto I used to know?"

Naruto didn't immediately answer, but lay there silently staring up at the ceiling. "That Naruto's gone," he finally answered, his voice distant and resigned.

"Why?" Sasuke demanded, glaring at the blond. "Why are you giving up so easily?"

Another laden pause. "Because I know there's no use trying to fight anymore…" Naruto replied. He sluggishly rolled his head over the pillow back towards Sasuke, his eyes shiny and filled with pain. "Ever since Akatsuki started trying to weaken my Curse Seal, I've heard Kyuubi getting louder and louder in the back of my head. You saw what happened last night. You saw how Kyuubi's chakra took over me. I couldn't control it. I'm afraid of what might happen if the seal completely breaks next time. I'm afraid of who I might hurt if that happens…"

"How many times do I have to tell you, idiot, I'm not going to let that happen," Sasuke growled, starting to get upset with Naruto's fatalism.

"I want to believe you, Sasuke, but you don't constantly hear Kyuubi in the back of your mind. You don't know what it wants to do if it ever gets out…" Naruto whispered, his voice heartbreakingly wretched in its hopelessness. "I can't help but think it would've been better if the old hag just let me die yesterday. It would've been better for everyone if I had. I'm just putting everyone in danger by being here. I appreciate everyone trying to protect me, but it's just getting too dangerous. That's why I haven't been letting Kyuubi heal me. A few months ago, I figured out a way to block its chakra from healing me every time Akatsuki tried to weaken the seal."

"You idiot," Sasuke hissed, irrational anger rising in the back of his throat. "You not letting Kyuubi heal you is one of the reasons Akatsuki is so close to breaking the seal. That's why you're so weak and can't fight them. You have to stop blocking it."

"Don't you understand, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, unfazed as he stared up at the dark-haired boy. "I thought you were the genius of the group. That's exactly what Kyuubi wants me to do. Me using its chakra to heal myself just makes it easier for Kyuubi to get a little closer to getting out every time Akatsuki weakens the seal. If I try to use any of its chakra now, it'll try and take over my body. I can feel it. That's what it's planning to do…"

Sasuke stared at his friend, momentarily at a loss for anything to say in response. "Are you saying," he finally found the voice to whisper, "that you'd rather die than let yourself get any better?"

Naruto looked away from Sasuke back up at the ceiling. "If that's what it takes to make sure Kyuubi never gets out or hurts anyone," he whispered.

For several heartbeats of eternity, it felt as if the entire world had come to a grinding halt. Sasuke could do nothing more than stare at his friend, a cold feeling of horror washing over him. Sakura had gone extremely still where she lay on her futon while somewhere on the other side of the room Sasuke heard a sharp intake of breath from Jiraiya, the Sannin sitting tensely straight, his eyes locked on his blond student.

"Don't say that, Naruto," Sasuke said. If he hadn't been so unnerved by what his friend was saying, he would have been ashamed by how much it sounded like he was pleading. "Don't you dare say that…"

Naruto said nothing and continued to stare up at the ceiling, his eyes shining brightly in the moonlight with repressed tears. Sasuke felt the sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach grow, spreading through his body like a cancerous poison. He felt as if someone was slowly suffocating him, or pulling him down into a bottomless pit of darkness. Naruto couldn't be serious. He didn't want to hear his friend talk like that. He didn't want to think about losing his friend again or being alone. He didn't want to live if it meant his friend sacrificing his own life. Naruto had already suffered too much to deserve such a fate…

But the determined look in Naruto's eyes did not go away, even as he silently stared up at the ceiling. Sasuke wanted to rant and rave and yell at the blond or grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he saw how stupid he was being. But he knew doing that would ultimately do no good. If there was one thing he'd learned about Naruto over the years, it was that once the stubborn fool set his mind to doing something, he never turned back.

Unable to do anything else, Sasuke angrily looked away from Naruto, hiding his face behind a curtain of dark bangs. Helpless anger and despair stewed inside him like some kind of noxious bile. Sitting on the edge of Naruto's futon, Sasuke held his head between his hands, his elbows on his knees. Never before had he wanted to scream so badly in frustration.

He felt more than heard the rustle of Naruto moving behind him in his nest of blankets, and then the tentative, feather-light touch of Naruto's fingers on his forearm. Looking back over his shoulder, Sasuke found Naruto staring up at him, his tired, pain-filled eyes silently imploring him not to be angry.

Unable to refuse his friend's request, Sasuke swiveled back around towards Naruto and gripped the Kyuubi vessel's hand in his own, tightly squeezing it as if somehow trying to beg him to reconsider his choice or think of some other way to keep his inner demon at bay.

The blond boy feebly squeezed back, but it offered his friend no hope of recourse. _This is what I have to do_, his pitifully weak grip seemed to say. _Please don't be mad at me. There's no other way…_

Angry, unbidden tears stung the corners of Sasuke's eyes. _Please don't do this,_ he pleaded as he gripped Naruto's hand tighter. _I can protect you, I swear. Just don't give up yet._

But Naruto did not squeeze back in reply.

* * *

Kakashi silently leapt from rooftop to rooftop, moving with the speed and grace only a trained ninja could possess. His feet barely seemed to touch the tiled roof. A full moon hung low in the sky to his left, bathing the Uchiha mansion in a brilliant wash of silver. The compound was quiet, almost as if no one else was even there. But Kakashi knew better. Just a few minutes ago, he'd met up with one of the ANBU teams patrolling the southern section of the compound. They'd had nothing to report. All seemed quite in the Uchiha district. 

Kakashi skillfully leapt onto the roof of a covered walkway which led to the other side of the compound where Naruto was hidden. He was serious when he'd said the Uchiha estate was larger than he'd thought it was. It was a veritable maze of covered walkways, storage buildings, separate apartments, enclosed courtyards, gardens, and a none too small family shrine, besides the actual mansion itself. It made Kakashi sad to think Sasuke lived here by himself with nothing but these empty buildings and the memories of his dead family to keep him company.

The jounin sensei had to suppress a sigh. It saddened him to think how lonely the boy must have been growing up in such a place. Even after joining Team Seven, he'd seen how Sasuke had preferred to keep to himself and pushed away anyone that tried to get close to him. It was like he didn't know how to let others get near. It was only as time wore on that he'd seen a tentative bond form between the Uchiha prodigy and his team's number one loud-mouth ninja, Naruto. What had originally started off as an intense rivalry between the two had somehow - miraculously!- over time turned into true friendship. Kakashi at times still didn't understand how such a thing had happened.

But it had, no matter how much either boy had been too proud to realize it at the time. Even after Sasuke had tried to leave, Naruto had gone after him and brought him back. Sasuke had been mad when he'd woken up back in Konoha and found any chance of running away again completely dashed. Yet their friendship still survived, even after Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya. Kakashi had had high hopes for the two to pick up their friendship when Naruto returned two years later.

He'd known how badly Sasuke had suffered those two years Naruto was away - how lonely he'd been with no one else to talk to or understand him after the village turned its back on him. It was strange really that two boys from such different backgrounds could underneath it all be so similar in their loneliness and need for someone else to understand them. With Naruto's return, it had seemed things were finally beginning to look up for Sasuke. But then Akatsuki had attacked, and all hopes of Sasuke being coaxed out of his shell had seemed completely destroyed.

It still sickened Kakashi to remember the way Sasuke's painful cries had echoed across the blood-soaked clearing that night as he'd knelt there weeping over his friend's dead body. Never had he seen Sasuke so…broken, or lost. Even after being his sensei for so many years, he'd never thought Sasuke capable of such intense emotions. Even in the months following Naruto's "death" it shocked him how much the other boy's death seemed to weigh on the prodigal Uchiha. It was almost as if with Naruto's murder, Sasuke had all but died himself. The boy seemed lost, as if he no longer had a reason to live. It startled Kakashi to realize just how close the two of them had become, even after everything they'd been through.

So it hadn't been much of a surprise then when Naruto was later found still alive that Sasuke had taken such an intense interest in guarding him. He was, after all, the only one the Uchiha had ever seemed to consider a friend or person he could trust. Not even Kakashi could claim to hold such a close bond with the boy.

It worried Kakashi though how protective Sasuke had become of the blond. He knew what kind of people were after his student. He knew what they wanted to do to him and their chances of finding him alive again if they couldn't protect Naruto this second time around. And that was why it worried him to think what Sasuke would do if something else happened to Naruto. He didn't think the boy could survive losing his friend a second time…

Leaping onto another roof, Kakashi headed for the western wing of the mansion. He had to get back and check on Naruto. The boy seemed to be getting weaker with each passing day. It was disconcerting to see the once hyperactive blond so subdued and defeated. If he hadn't been there when Iruka found him, he never would have believed it was the same boy he used to know.

As Kakashi continued to make his way across the compound he came to the edge of one building and leapt across the narrow walkway that separated it from another hall. As he sailed through the air, he happened to see out of the corner of his eye what looked like the tail-end of a dark figure disappear around the corner of another building below him. Skidding to a halt on the opposite rooftop - his feet momentarily slipping on the ceramic tiles - the jounin spun around, pushing his forehead protector up from over his Sharingan and pulling a kunai from his leg holster. His blood-red eye quickly swept the area, but saw no sign of anyone else. The compound was eerily quiet.

Moving stealthfully, Kakashi hurried towards where he thought he'd just seen someone and looked down over the edge. Again he saw no one in either direction.

For a moment the jounin wondered if he hadn't been deceived by the shadows or maybe seen something that was the product of an overwrought imagination. He had, after all, been under an abnormal amount of stress lately since Naruto's return, along with almost everyone else. It might have also been one of the other teams patrolling the grounds. More than two dozen Konoha ninja were currently spread out across the compound. He might have just seen one of them.

But the silver-haired copy-ninja wasn't about to let himself be lulled into such a false sense of security - especially when one of his student's safety was at stake. He'd been a shinobi for far too long to simply brush off the possibility of enemy-nin being present without first investigating. It just didn't make sense either. Most of the other teams were patrolling the outer edges of the compound, not its inner grounds. And those that were stationed farther inside had been ordered to remain hidden inside the buildings.

Something was wrong. He'd developed a sort of sixth sense for trouble over the years, and at this moment his instincts were currently screaming at him something was out of place.

Kakashi silently jumped down from the roof and began to make his way between the buildings on foot, his Sharingan shining brightly in the moonlight. He moved with his body tightly pressed against the wall, keeping to the shadows. He came to the end of the building and found himself near one of the outer walls of the compound. Several dozen yards away stood the Uchiha family shrine, its red torii gate and shimenawa (**1**) casting long shadows across the ground.

For a moment all seemed normal. But then Kakashi saw a dark figure slip out of the shadows between two of the shrine's smaller buildings and head towards the honden (**2**). As he watched, the figure moved to shrine's front doors and quietly rapped three times.

A moment's pause. And then the doors to the shrine slowly opened and a number of dark figures began to stream out from it, all of them wearing the trademark cloud embossed robes of Akatsuki.

Kakashi felt his heart clench in the middle of his chest, his eyes widening in horrified surprise.

Akatsuki was here! Not only had they snuck into the village again but had also managed to somehow get inside the compound. But how? How'd they get inside? There were more than twenty ninja guarding every possible entrance into the grounds. But even more importantly than any of those questions: how'd they know they'd hidden Naruto here?

Unable to find the answer to any of these questions, Kakashi did the only thing he could and pressed a finger to the button of a small plastic box hanging from a cord around his neck. It was a silent alarm which instantly sent a signal to all other alert necklaces within a several mile radius. Tsunade had given all of them one before they'd moved Naruto out of the hospital. Because of Akatsuki's last attack, it was determined they needed a faster alert system to help respond to any kind of attack on the boy. Kakashi, however, hadn't thought they'd need to use them so soon. He'd been sure they'd finally found a safe place to keep his student…

More and more Akatsuki ninja were coming out of the shrine, almost as if they were being magically channeled there from somewhere else - the honden just wasn't big enough for all those ninja to have been hiding inside. Kakashi counted at least thirty ninja now, and more continued to appear behind them. They began to spread out across the shrine, moving towards the mansion like a silent black swarm of ants.

The jounin quickly spun around on his heels and sped back the way he'd come - moving faster than he ever thought himself capable of back towards the western wing of the mansion. They had to get Naruto out of here. Akatsuki had found out where they'd hidden him and were coming after him. They had to move him to safety.

But as the copy-ninja leapt up onto the roof to help speed his progress across the compound, a sickening realization suddenly came to Kakashi: no place in Konoha was safe anymore from Akatsuki…

To Be Continued…

* * *

(**1**) _Shimenawa - _the twisted straw rope with zig-zag white paper hanging from it that's commonly found in Shinto shrines. 

(**2**) _Honden _- main building of a Shinto shrine (usually the largest) where the kami is suppose to actually reside.

(Sorry for the need for definitions. But that's what you get when a Japanese major writes a Japan-based fanfic... :P)

**A/N: **Sorry for stopping at such an odd place, but it would've been too long if I stopped it where I really wanted to. I can't help but feel Sasuke is slowly stealing more and more of the limelight as time goes on. (That little angst thief…) He just seems to attract angst to him like a magnet. Any thoughts?

PLEASE REVIEW!


	9. Possession

Hold onto your seats! This one's a long one! But it's action-packed. Yeah epic ninja battles!

**Chapter Nine: Possession**

Sasuke sat on the edge of Naruto's futon, his head bowed to his chest. Close beside him Naruto lay in restless slumber. He'd drifted off some time ago, exhaustion robbing him of consciousness, still holding Sasuke's hand. Or rather Sasuke still holding his. The dark-haired boy seemed reluctant to let go just yet.

Even though his friend was no longer awake to return his almost desperate grip, Sasuke could not make himself release Naruto's hand. Because doing that would somehow be like giving him permission to let go - like saying he was fine with Naruto letting himself slowly waste away. And he couldn't do that. He wouldn't. He refused to let his friend give up so easily. He didn't care how pathetic it made him look, he wasn't going to let Naruto slip away without a fight. Even if he had to physically hold him there, he wasn't going to let his friend disappear again.

Naruto's breathing was shallow but rhythmic, the rise and fall of his chest barely visible beneath all the blankets. His hand was cold in Sasuke's, like a dead fish. Sasuke could feel none of Naruto's inherent warmth. It was like all of it had been sucked out of the blond just like his happiness, hope, and will to live. There was just nothing left…

The others in the room were quiet; Jiraiya and Sakura lost in their own troubled thoughts. The Sannin sat with his head bowed to his chest on one side of the room, his eyes emptily staring at the floor. Every so often Sasuke thought he felt the older man look up and stare at him - as if reevaluating some old assessment of him - before quickly turning thought-ladened eyes back to the tatami mats. Sakura, meanwhile, still laid on her futon; but even from a distance Sasuke could see the tense muscles in her back and shoulders, as if she were silently fighting to keep her grief trapped inside where no one else could see or hear it.

Despite his own despair, Sasuke knew the pink-haired koinoichi didn't want to see their other teammate fade away anymore than he did. Even though she'd always brushed aside Naruto's affections and beat him up on more than one occasion while they'd still been a team, Sasuke knew over time the blond had managed to worm his way into Sakura's heart just like he'd managed to worm his way into his. It was just impossible not to like the hyperactive idiot once one got to know him, no matter how much that person might try not to…

Naruto suddenly groaned in his sleep, his features scrunching together in pain. His fingers unconsciously tightened around Sasuke's hand as he restlessly shifted under the blankets. Sasuke tightened his grip, trying to reassure his friend he was still there, that he hadn't left him to fight whatever demons plagued his dreams alone. As if actually feeling the Uchiha heir's reassurance, Naruto quieted and lay still again, his breathing slowly evening out as he drifted into deeper unconsciousness.

Sasuke continued to hold Naruto's hand, his eyes sorrowfully surveying the wretched remains of the boy he once knew - the boy that had once saved him from the darkness of his own single-minded revenge. He wondered if he somehow couldn't do the same for Naruto now and save him from his own darkness - the darkness forced upon him by the ones trying to unleash the demonic force of nature sealed inside him.

"He responds well to you," a voice suddenly said from the other side of the room. Sasuke looked up from Naruto to find Jiraiya staring at him with unreadable dark eyes. "You're the only one Naruto seems to trust anymore. Not even Kakashi, Tsunade, me, or that Iruka from the academy can reach him like you can. It's like you're the only one he really even acknowledges." A pause from the wandering Sannin. "Even after everything you did, he still trusts you the most…" Sasuke was sure he detected a note of bitterness in the toad-sage's voice.

He slowly looked away from Jiraiya to the floor, his hair swinging forward to partially hide his face. "I'm not proud of what I did," Sasuke murmured, his eyes downcast as he bowed his head in shame. "I know everyone hates me for almost killing Naruto. I hate myself for what I almost did. Naruto is the only person I ever considered a true friend. My older brother once told me if I ever wanted to gain the next level of my Sharingan to get strong enough to defeat him, I had to kill my best friend. Naruto was that person. I was ready to kill him when he came after me to bring me back to Konoha. But… but I just couldn't do it in the end. I couldn't hurt him. He was the only person I ever considered close to me - the only one I thought could ever understand me. I just couldn't bring myself to kill him…"

"You act as though not being able to kill him is some kind of weakness," Jiraiya noted, but without animosity. His eyes seemed to stare into Sasuke, as if looking right down to his very soul. Sasuke slowly raised his head to look up at the Sannin again.

"I can tell you truly care about Naruto," Jiraiya went on. "Someone wouldn't go up against two S-class ninja alone or put himself in harm's way to protect another if that person didn't have some kind of strong connection with the other. What you did the night before is a sign of strength, not weakness. If you had been able to kill Naruto, would you have been happier with the results or regretted it in the end?"

"I would have regretted it," Sasuke immediately replied. "I would have hated myself even more than I already do for almost killing him. If I hadn't hesitated at the last moment while we'd been fighting-"

"That doesn't matter anymore," Jiraiya sharply cut him off. "What matters is that you couldn't hurt him and are here protecting him now. I never understood why Naruto continued to have anything to do with you after he brought you back. But now… I can see you're a good friend to him. And right now, he needs as many of those as he can get."

Sasuke stared at Jiraiya, unsure if he was really hearing the toad-sage correctly.

As if reading Sasuke's dubious expression, Jiraiya explained, "I didn't trust you when you started guarding Naruto. But after seeing how you were ready to charge into Kyuubi's chakra to try and help him the night before and seeing how Naruto responds to you, I know now you are probably the only one that can save him in the end…"

Sasuke stared at the Sannin, stunned. Jiraiya thought he could protect Naruto? Jiraiya! The same man who had made it abundantly clear through disapproving looks and dark glares how highly he thought of him before Naruto had been thought dead. Somehow this small gesture of acceptance meant more to Sasuke than any speech Kakashi could have ever given him. If even Naruto's sensei thought he could help his traumatized student, then maybe there really was some way for him to pull Naruto back from the darkness.

But Sasuke never got a chance to ponder the possibilities as he felt the small electronic box hanging from a cord around his neck suddenly begin to vibrate and blink with unsettling urgency.

The Uchiha heir's blood ran cold as the meaning of the necklace's blinking red light and insistent vibrating registered in his brain. Glancing up at Jiraiya, Sasuke found the Sannin staring at his own alarm button, a frozen look of horror etched across his face. Sakura had also sat up straight in bed, her horrified green eyes searching out Sasuke's in the darkness.

"Sasuke…" she whispered.

His brain jumping into overdrive - horror pulsing through his veins like adrenaline - Sasuke swooped down on the sleeping boy beside him. "Naruto! Naruto!" he called, urgently shaking the other boy's shoulder. "Naruto, you have to wake up! Now!" Jiraiya and Sakura hurried to his and Naruto's side.

_No, this isn't happening_, Sasuke's mind whirled as he tried to wake his friend. _There shouldn't have been any way for them to know where we hid him! He was suppose to finally be safe. How did they know where to find him?_

"We have to get him out of here," Jiraiya said, kneeling beside his student across from Sasuke. Naruto groggily lifted heavy eyelids, groaning under his breath as he fought his way back to consciousness.

"How did Akatsuki know we brought him here?" Sakura demanded, her eyes darting between Jiraiya and Sasuke.

"I don't know," Jiraiya said. He began to gather Naruto to him, lifting the almost weightless boy out of his nest of blankets into his arms. "But somehow Akatsuki found out where he is. We have to get out of here. Fast. We'll fall back to the western side of the compound and meet up the ANBU teams there."

"And then where are we going to take him?" Sasuke demanded. "If Akatsuki found out we hid him here, where else can we take him that he'll be safe?"

Jiraiya just shook his head, a frightened look of helplessness entering his eyes. "I don't know…" he murmured, unable to meet Sasuke's eyes. "I don't know if there's anywhere he _can _be safe anymore. If Akatsuki can find him here, then they can find him almost anywhere…"

Sasuke could do nothing more than stare at Jiraiya as the toad-sage then stood, Naruto's frighteningly thin form cradled against his chest. Disoriented and only half conscious, Naruto weakly clutched Jiraiya's shirt, whimpering under his breath as he was jostled about. Jiraiya began to move towards the door, his footsteps hurried. Sasuke and Sakura hurried after him, each of them pulling kunai from their holsters.

But before the three could slip out of the room into the main part of the house, they suddenly heard a thump and then the sound of muffled footsteps outside on the roof above them. All of them froze. Sasuke and Sakura immediately took defensive positions on either side of Jiraiya, kunai held in either of hand. Blinking his eyes into blood-red, tomoe dotted pupils, Sasuke tracked the passage of the footsteps across the ceiling to the far side of the room where one of the shoji doors still stood pushed open, silvery moonlight spilling in through it from the courtyard beyond.

As the footsteps came to the edge of the roof, Sasuke saw a dark figure leap down from the overhanging eaves to the outside porchway. He moved forward to stand in front of Jiraiya, Sakura, and Naruto; his teeth bared, kunai ready and Sharingan spinning. He wasn't going to let those Akatsuki bastards anywhere _near_ his friend again…

The dark figure turned and hurried straight towards the door. But before Sasuke could attack the mysterious nin, he finally saw the person's face and lowered his kunai.

"Kakashi?" he said in surprise as the silver-haired ninja hurried inside towards them.

"We have to get Naruto out of here," Kakashi said, ignoring Sasuke. His breathing was coming in short gasps, as if he'd just ran there from the other side of the compound. There was the faintest hint of panic in his eyes; his uncovered Sharingan shining brightly in the moonlight.

"We know," Jiraiya said, holding Naruto close. "We just felt the alarm go off."

Kakashi nodded hurriedly. "I'm the one who set it off. I just saw a number of Akatsuki ninja sneaking out of one of the buildings in the Uchiha shrine. I counted at least three dozen of them."

Sasuke froze, staring at Kakashi. "The shrine?" he said. "How could they have possibly gotten in through there?"

"I don't know, but they found out Naruto's here and they're coming for him," Kakashi said, glancing at the frail blond figure in Jiraiya's arms. He turned back towards the open shoji door. "Come on. We have to go. The others have been alerted to Akatsuki's presence. They'll all be converging here to help protect Naruto, but we have to start to move him out of here. From what I could see, it looks like Akatsuki's moving towards the main part of the house. We should get outside and try to reach the main wall by cutting across the compound. We'll have more of a chance of getting away undetected that way than if we try to actually go through the mansion."

The others nodded and followed the copy-ninja towards the door. Together the four slipped outside and began to quickly move along the covered porchway lining the building, all of them warily scanning the surrounding area for signs of enemy-nin.

Naruto hung limp in Jiraiya's arms, his legs dangling over the toad-sage's elbow as he weakly clutched the front of the Sannin's shirt. He said nothing as his sensei carried him into the night. Even sick and half-conscious, he seemed to understand the urgency of the situation and danger he was currently facing. It was impossible for Sasuke to miss the terrified look in Naruto's half-lidded eyes, or the almost desperate way his friend seemed to cling to Jiraiya - as if silently begging him to keep him safe.

They came to the end of the porchway and left it to cut across the open courtyard. A Zen rock garden took up most of the inner part of the courtyard, the moon bathing the boulders and carefully combed sand in silvery-white light. Not a grain of sand was disturbed as the four ninja crossed it on cushions of carefully controlled chakra. They did not need footprints left in their wake to alert their enemies which way they'd gone.

Ducking between two buildings on the other side of the courtyard, Kakashi motioned the others to stick close to the wall and keep to the shadows. The compound was silent as they stealthfully weaved their way through the darkened complex of buildings.

"Kakashi," Sasuke whispered as they came to the intersection of several different buildings, "take a left. It will lead us to the far side of the compound. There's a hidden gate there we can use that will let us out near the merchant district of the village."

Kakashi nodded and began to slip around the side of the building. But before the others could follow, Sasuke suddenly heard the faint scuffle of shoes on ceramic roof tiles somewhere above him, and looked up just in time to see two enemy Akatsuki ninja leap down from the edge of the building - moonlight glinting off the blades of drawn katana.

Sakura, Sasuke, Jiraiya, and Kakashi all leapt backward, just barely missing the deadly blades. The three immediately closed ranks around Jiraiya and the helpless boy he held in his arms, their kunai trained on the enemy nin who stood at a distant, blocking either lane of escape between the two buildings.

"Give us the demon-vessel," one said, inching closer to the group, his sword momentarily flashing in the moonlight.

"Go to hell," Jiraiya hissed, clutching his student closer. Naruto clung to him, desperately seeking protection against the Sannin's burly chest.

The two Akatsuki ninja inched closer. "You should just give up now," the other ninja said. "Lord Uchiha snuck us in here through his family's secret passage under the shrine. Our ninja are already spreading out through the compound. There's no way you can escape now with the demon-vessel. You're cornered and will soon be outnumbered…"

Sasuke's eyes flashed, his tomoe-spoked pupils spinning wildly. Itachi? So that was how Akatsuki had been sneaking into Konoha. His family had had a secret passage out of the village under the family shrine the entire time. Why hadn't he known that?

Gritting his teeth together, Sasuke held his kunai threateningly out towards the approaching ninja. "You try to touch Naruto, I'll make it the last thing you ever do," he growled.

The first ninja actually had the audacity to laugh. "We'll see about that," he chuckled, and then with no more small talk, he and his partner attacked.

"Watch out!" Kakashi yelled as the two slashed their blades in a wide arch at them. The four scattered to either side out of the katana's path - Jiraiya and Sasuke to one side, Sakura and Kakashi to the other.

"Sasuke, guard Jiraiya and Naruto!" Kakashi yelled as he spun to meet the edge of his enemy's blade with a kunai. "Sakura and I will hold them back! Meet up with one of the other teams and get Naruto out of here!"

The dark-haired boy hesitated only a moment before looking up at the toad-sage, and together simultaneously spun away back towards the direction they'd just come. "Come on," Sasuke said, motioning the Sannin after him.

The two sped away, the sounds of clashing metal and sharp sizzle-crack of chakra attacks echoing between the empty buildings behind them. "Which way?" Jiraiya yelled as they appeared on the edge of the courtyard again. Naruto by now was nothing but a shaking bundle of fear in the Sannin's arms.

"This way!" Sasuke called, pointing to the far left side of the courtyard. "We'll head for the southern gate. We can get out that way."

The two began to race across the rock garden, not even bothering to cover their tracks this time. They'd already been found. It was only a matter of time now before more Akatsuki ninja were drawn there by the sounds of Sakura and Kakashi fighting off the other two. They had to get Naruto out of there as quick as possible.

_Where are the other teams? _Sasuke wondered as he and Jiraiya wove their way between two large boulders dotting the garden. _They were suppose to fall back here if the alarms went off to help protect Naruto. _Unfortunately, the Uchiha heir never got an answer to his question as he suddenly caught sight of at least twenty more black robed figures appear on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings and descend on the courtyard like a swarm of black locus.

"Shit!" Jiraiya swore as he and Sasuke skid to a stop, sand flying everywhere. The Akatsuki ninja immediately spread out, surrounding the two Konoha ninja and their helpless charge in a wide circle.

Sasuke edged closer to Jiraiya, his Sharingan spinning as his eyes swept over the surrounding enemy-nin. "Can you fight still holding Naruto?" he whispered between gritted teeth.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Jiraiya smirked. "Who do you think you're talking to, kid?" he said. "They don't call me one of the legendary three for nothing."

Somehow the toad-sage's sarcastic reply gave Sasuke a glimmer of hope. "Alright then," he smirked in reply, and sank into a battle stance, kunai drawn. Jiraiya also prepared himself, Naruto protectively clasped to his chest. Sasuke had no doubt in his mind the toad-sage was ready to die to protect his injured student if that was what it took.

One Akatsuki ninja with long blond hair and bangs that veiled half his face stepped forward. "Don't hurt the demon-vessel, hn?" he said, smirking under his bangs at Jiraiya and Sasuke. "That little boy's important to us. The other two though you can kill."

Several of the Akatsuki ninja surrounding them chuckled darkly. The scrape of sharpened metal grated the air as several of them unsheathed swords and kunai from their sides. Another ninja with an orange and black swirled mask standing beside the blond nodded in agreement.

"As you wish, Deidara-sempai," he said.

"I call dibs on the old one," one of the other ninja said - this one with short, slicked back white hair and a giant evil-looking, three-bladed scythe. "He'll make a perfect sacrifice for me."

"I don't think so, Hidan," another ninja beside him said, his pupiless white eyes staring at Jiraiya greedily. "That one's Jiraiya. One of the legendary Sannin of Konoha. Do you know how many ryou he's worth? He's mine."

"You and your goddamn bounties…" Hidan hissed, glaring at his partner.

"Stop fighting," Deidara, growled. "You're wasting time. Just kill the brat and old man already and get the demon-vessel. We don't have all night, hn? They probably have ANBU heading this way even as we speak."

"Unfortunately, you are already too late!" a loud voice suddenly echoed across courtyard, "for we have already arrived to save our young friend Naruto from falling into your evil hands again!"

Normally, Sasuke would have inwardly winced or rolled his eyes at the flamboyant speech of that familiar voice. But somehow looking up towards the rooftop of the building to his left, Sasuke could do nothing more than revel in the almost painful wave of relief that washed over him at the sight of Gai-sensei standing there on the edge of the roof, silhouetted by the moon and flanked on either side by Asuma, Kurenai, each of their respected teams, and at least three teams of ANBU black opt.

"Sorry it took us so long to get here," Asuma called down to Sasuke and Jiraiya, "but we got a little distracted fighting off the other group of Akatsuki we ran into getting here."

"Damn it," Kakuzu swore, scanning the group of Konoha ninja lining the roof. "Prepare to fight!"

The Konoha ninja leapt down from the rooftop into the courtyard. Almost immediately, the crackle of chakra filled the air. Weapons clashed, bodies spun and twisted in their ancient dance of death, and the stench of freshly spilt blood rose to fill the noses of everyone there.

As Sasuke watched, Akamaru leapt after Kiba into battle and lunged at the first black-robed ninja he came to. The man howled as the giant dog's teeth clamped down on his forearm and wrestled him to the ground with a feral growl. Kiba meanwhile was locked in a one-on-one battle with another Akatsuki, their kunai meeting in quick, bone-shuddering succession.

Nearby, Neji's long hair whipped the air as the Hyuuga genius side-stepped an enemy ninja's katana and swiftly lunged forward again to close off three of the man's chakra points in his arm, causing the man's sword to clatter uselessly to the ground.

Shikamura already had at least four Akatsuki trapped in his shadow-jutsu, the full moon overhead offering him an almost endless field of attacks. Ino and Chouji fought in formation close behind him.

Hinata and Shino were not far away. A swarm of bugs flew from the ends of the bug-master's fingers towards two Akatsuki ninja who screamed and flailed their arms in panic as the insects covered them like a living black blanket. Hinata moved with extraordinary speed and purpose - feint, lunge, dodge, kick, pressure point, lunge, palm to the chest, pressure point, kick, dodge. It was like the Hyuuga heiress was possessed in her determination to stop these people threatening her childhood crush and friend.

Not far from them, Tenten and Lee were engaged in their own battles. Lee was like an unstoppable green whirlwind of feet, fists, and youthful energy. Barely any ninja that came at him came anywhere close to landing a punch on the taijutsu master.

Fighting amongst the old Rookie Nine and Gai-sensei's team, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai himself, and their ANBU counterparts all fought with unbridled intensity. Unfortunately though, two of the ANBU black opts fighting Kakuzu were no match for the S-class ninja's sword and collapsed to the ground in twin clouds of misty red. Although slowed by Konoha's black opts, not even ANBU were any match for the other S-class ninja of Akatsuki, and they too soon fell under the crime-nin's attacks.

Dodging the attack of one Akatsuki ninja that lunged at him, Sasuke dispatched the man from battle with a swift kick to the abdomen and slash of a kunai to the chest. Panting, he hurriedly looked back over his shoulder towards Jiraiya. "Come on!" he yelled, motioning the Sannin to follow him. "We have to get Naruto out of here!"

"Not so fast, little brother…" a new voice suddenly said, to which Sasuke spun around to find his older brother, Itachi, suddenly standing directly in front of him, staring down at him with blood-red eyes. Sasuke hadn't even seen him there in the courtyard a moment before. When had he arrived or managed to sneak up behind him? "There will be no more of these little games of cat and mouse," Itachi went on. "We are claiming the demon-vessels as our own once and for all."

Somewhere through his horrified shock, Sasuke saw out of the corner of his eye a dark-robed figure suddenly materialize - seemingly out of no where - right behind Jiraiya. Before the toad-sage could react, Itachi's partner, Kisame, swung an overlarge sword at the Sannin's back. Jiraiya's scream shot across the courtyard like a gunshot as the sword sliced through his right shoulder with the same fluid ease of a hot knife passing through butter. Unable to hold of his student any longer, Jiraiya dropped to his knees, Naruto rolling from his arms to the ground.

"Sensei!" Naruto weakly cried as Jiraiya clutched his shoulder, blood seeping through the fabric of his overcoat like watercolor paint dabbed against a wet canvas. Sasuke was no healer, but even he knew when a major vein or artery had been hit. The color was already draining from the Sannin's face. He began to sway where he knelt, his life slowly seeping from him, down his arm, and into the thirsty brown sand.

"Get the boy," Itachi said to his partner. Kisame nodded and began to move toward Naruto's prone form.

"NO!" Sasuke yelled and lunged to protect his friend. He was stopped, however, by Itachi catching him by the arm and pulling him back towards him.

"Not so fast, little brother," he smirked. "You and I still have unfinished business to attend to before I go rip that nine-tailed fox demon out of your friend's belly…"

"You _bastard_!" Sasuke screamed and swiped his kunai at his older brother's throat. Itachi, however, was too skilled to be touched by such a reckless attack and easily dodged the blade.

"Have you learned nothing these last few years?" Itachi laughed. "You are no more skilled as a ninja now than you were when our family met their end at my hands."

Sasuke's Sharingan was spinning so fast now the tomoe spokes circling his pupils were nothing but a blurry line. "SHUT UP!" he screamed. "I'll kill you!" Lunging at Itachi, Sasuke's hands flew into a complex series of hand signs. Crackling blue chakra filled the air and shot towards Itachi like bolts of lightening. But the older Uchiha had already back-springed out of the way. Twisting in the air, Itachi threw several shuriken at Sasuke, forcing the younger Uchiha to hurriedly jump to the side to avoid the deadly projectiles.

Pressing his attack, Itachi sprung at Sasuke, a kunai suddenly appearing in his hand from the folds of cloak. Struggling to keep his footing in the loose sand, Sasuke just barely managed to bring his own weapon up in time to block his brother's strike before it could slash his stomach open. The sharp clash of metal rang out over the surrounding din of battle.

"You are no match for me, little brother," Itachi whispered as the two stood there, their kunai locked in a pushing war for dominance. With no warning, Itachi's other hand shot out in a fist and smashed into the side of Sasuke's face. Sasuke's head snapped around, his and Itachi's kunai breaking apart.

The boy hit the sandy ground with a thud, his vision swimming from the blow. Before he could push himself back up to his feet, Itachi was already on him, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him up off the ground as if he weighed nothing. Instinctively, Sasuke dropped his kunai and clawed at the merciless fingers clamped around his windpipe. His toes dangled several inches above the ground.

"I'm disappointed, brother," Itachi said, dispassionately watching as Sasuke gasped for breath. "I expected so much more from you. You are not even worth the effort of dirtying my kunai with your blood…"

Sasuke's eyes began to blur, a hazy ring of darkness appearing to tunnel his vision. He could feel his body growing heavy and weak, his lungs screaming for air. His fingers clawed as his brother's hand, but Itachi's fingers were like vices of steel around his throat. Nothing he did seemed able to break his brother's deadly hold.

_No… I wasn't suppose to die like this… _his fading consciousness screamed. _I was suppose to avenge my family… I was suppose to protect Naruto… I was suppose to save him from Akatsuki…_

The haze of darkness slowly began to grow, rising to swallow him like a bottomless black abyss. Sasuke's eyelids began to droop, his consciousness slowly seeping away.

But just before the darkness could fully close in around him, Itachi suddenly cried out in pain and released his hold on Sasuke's throat. Sasuke limply collapsed to the ground, the fall jarring him out of his stupor to take a long, shuddering gasp of air.

Itachi stood over him, clutching his right arm as if he'd just been burned. The older Uchiha's lips were pulled back in a fierce snarl, his Sharingan spinning as he glared at something beyond Sasuke's range of vision where he lay prostrate on the ground.

Forcing his sluggish body to move, Sasuke weakly raised his head and looked in the same direction as his brother. What he saw instantly shocked the younger Uchiha's scattered thoughts back into focus.

Several yards away - his knees visibly shaking with the effort it took to hold his pitifully frail body up - Naruto stood with his hands in front of him in the final hand seal of a fire jutsu. He was breathing hard, his body trembling with exhaustion. As Sasuke watched, the blond faltered, almost collapsed; but somehow forced himself to remain standing on what appeared to be sheer willpower alone.

"You…" Itachi hissed, glaring at the boy. "Did you really think you could hurt me with such a weak attack?"

"No…" Naruto ground between gritted teeth. Sweat beaded across his forehead, dripping down his face as his body began to violently shake with the effort of standing. "But I had to do something to make you let Sasuke go… I won't let you hurt my friend…" As if drained of his final bit of strength, Naruto's knees finally gave out from under him and he collapsed back to the ground.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. Panic surging through him, the Uchiha forced his still sluggish body up off the ground. But before he could rush to his friend's aide, Kisame suddenly appeared beside Naruto and grabbed the boy by the back of the shirt.

Hefting Naruto's limp body up like he were nothing but a rag doll, the Akatsuki ninja turned to Itachi. "Should we just do the ceremony here?" he asked. "I doubt this boy will survive the trip back to headquarters. If we want the fox-demon we should just remove it here. It won't take much to break the seal now…"

"If you think the six of us can control Kyuubi," Itachi replied.

"We will use a Binding Jutsu to keep it in our control until we get back," Kisame said, eyeing the helpless demon-vessel. "If everything goes right, maybe we should let the Kyuubi have a little romp through Konoha before going back. It's been locked up for so long time after all…"

Sasuke froze, his heart clenching painfully in the middle of his chest. "I won't let you!" he yelled, struggling to his feet. He pulled another kunai from his leg holster.

"Unfortunately, little brother, you have no hope of stopping us now," Itachi smirked, and glanced at something just beyond Sasuke's left shoulder.

Suddenly sensing another presence behind him, Sasuke whipped around to find himself standing face to face with another of Akatsuki's S-class ninja. Deidara gave Sasuke a leering smile before loops of ninja wire suddenly coiled around him and drew tight.

Sasuke tottered as he found his arms suddenly pinned to his sides and his legs lashed together. Crashing backwards to the ground, he could do nothing more than helplessly stare at the man standing over him.

"Enjoy the show, hn?" Deidara hummed with a smirk. "I'm sure your big brother will want to finish playing with you later." Then turning away, he went to stand next to Itachi and his partner, Tobi, who had also come to join the group. Hidan and Kakuzu also stepped forward and stood not far away from the others.

Around him, Sasuke heard the rest of his Konoha allies still fighting the hoards of lower-class Akatsuki filling the courtyard. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Kakashi and Sakura had at some point managed to join the fight, having finally dispatched of the two enemy-nin from before. Nearby, Jiraiya was slumped forward where he knelt, blood seeping down his arm and staining the sand beneath him a dark, rusty brown. Sasuke desperately struggled against his restraints, fighting to break lose or somehow squirm free.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried as Kisame unceremoniously tossed him back to the ground and performed a short series of hand seals. Long strands of ribbon-like material suddenly shot up out of the sand and wrapped themselves around Naruto's ankles, wrists, and neck, tethering him to the ground. The boy tried to stand or somehow move away, but was only able to weakly push himself far enough off the ground to kneel. The ribbons wouldn't let him move any farther. "_Sasuke!_" he screamed, panic cracking his voice. "Help me! Don't let them do the ceremony! _Please!_"

Sasuke wildly thrashed where he lay, straining against the wire binding his arms and legs. "Naruto, hold on!" he yelled.

"Naruto!" Kakashi's voice rang over the din of battle. The jounin was currently fighting two Akatsuki ninja at the same time several dozen yards away - too far away for him to do anything to help his captured student. The other Konoha ninja all looked up in horror, pausing in their own fights to stare at the boy.

"We've got to stop them!" Asuma yelled. "Get them away from Naruto!" But even as several of them tried to go to Naruto's aid, more Akatsuki ninja surged forward to keep them from getting anywhere near him or the S-class ninja surrounding the helpless boy.

"Sasuke!" Naruto continued to yell, desperately staring at his friend with frightened blue eyes. He frantically pulled against the cords holding him. "Help me, please!"

Sasuke felt himself begin to bleed where the wire cut into his flesh as he angrily writhed and kicked against the ground. The pain, however, meant nothing to him. In fact he began to thrash harder. He had to get free. He had to help his friend.

Itachi stepped closer to Naruto, bringing his hands up in front of him in an unfamiliar hand seal. The other five ninja all followed his example and did the same. "Seeing as how this is probably going to be the boy's last Seal Breaking ceremony with us, let's make this one especially memorable," the elder Uchiha smirked as he looked down into his captive's frightened blue eyes. His Sharingan gleamed darkly in the moonlight. "Because this _is _the end…"

Then closing his eyes in concentration, Itachi's hands flew into a complex series of hand signs, his comrades all following suit. Strange, archaic words flowed from their tongues, synchronizing together in a dark, hypnotic chant.

For a moment nothing actually happened. But then with nothing to forewarn the intensity of the reaction, Naruto's head snapped backwards, his back arching in a U and his limbs spasming against the cords tying him to the ground as a breathless scream of agony tore from the boy's throat and echoed across the courtyard of now silent, horrified ninja.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke screamed.

Just like the night Itachi weakened Naruto's curse seal and allowed the Kyuubi's chakra to break free, cyclones of fire flared to life around the boy, blood-red chakra bubbling from his skin to surround him in a shell of molten energy. Sasuke saw the sand around Naruto begin to melt and turn to glass from the intense heat of the demonic chakra. Naruto's screams continued to echo into the night, unending in the poor boy's suffering.

Akatsuki's chanting rose in pitch, the intensity of the mantra speeding up. Naruto was barely visible anymore behind the fiery waves of chakra that roiled off his skin. His agonized screams began to verge on what sounded like the edge of mortal tolerance.

And then - just when Sasuke thought his friend could scream no louder or endure any more pain - the shield of chakra surrounding Naruto suddenly disappeared and Naruto's screams abruptly stopped.

The silence left in the wake of the boy's screams rung loudly in the ears of everyone there. No one moved or even seemed to breath. All eyes were trained on the motionless blond figure kneeling in the middle of a wide circle of scorched sand and glass.

Naruto's head was bowed to his chest, his bangs hiding his face from view. His arms were limp by his sides, his shoulders slumped.

Sasauke stared at his friend, desperately searching for any sign of life. For a moment, he wondered if Naruto hadn't been able to somehow fight Akatsuki's Seal Breaking and draw the fox-demon's power back inside him; or (he wondered with a sickening lurch) been unable to endure any more strain and finally succumbed to death.

But before Sasuke's mind could go down such dark and unsettling paths, he suddenly heard a low chuckle rumble from the motionless figure. As he watched, Naruto's shoulders began to quiver, as if shaking with barely contained mirth. The chuckling steadily grew in volume until it became an open laugh, the unsettlingly sound echoing across the silent courtyard.

Sasuke felt an unexplainable chill race down the length of his spine.

Naruto slowly raised his head, the silvery moonlight illuminating his features - and Sasuke felt his blood run cold.

Red slitted eyes stared back at him from his friend's almost unfamiliar face. Thick black whisker marks lined Naruto's cheeks, enlarged fangs grinning back at him in a feral grin. Even from a distance, Sasuke could see the boy's now pointed ears and his clawed fingernails. The bruises and burns that once littered Naruto's body were now completely gone - healed by Kyuubi's power.

Chuckling darkly, Naruto slowly stood, the cords around his wrists and ankles snapping as if they were nothing but brittle lengths of string. "Finally…" the boy chuckled, his blood red eyes and teeth flashing in the moonlight. Sasuke shivered at the voice that came from his friend's mouth. Although it was still Naruto's, there was some new element to it that made it completely different. Something sadistic, cruel and deadly.

Like becoming the eye of some terrible firestorm, nine chakra tails suddenly flared to life behind Naruto, lashing and coiling the air like fiery whips.

Framed by this fiery backdrop of demonic power, Kyuubi - channeled outwards through Naruto's body - slowly looked around him at everyone there and grinned. "At last," he chuckled, baring his teeth in the hellish parody of a smile. "After fifteen years of waiting I finally managed to break through…"

To Be Continued…

Eek! Oh no, Kyuubi's out and looking for blood! Any thoughts?

Reviews please! (I'll give cookies!)


	10. Unleashed Demon

Sorry for the overdue update, but I've been too busy over "break" with finals, the holidays, and starting my Senior translation project to really find any time to write.

This chapter, like others before it, had to be cut in half because the first half of its outline went longer than originally expected. If I don't have to do anymore chapter-splicing, I foresee only four more chapters with a small epilogue of sorts attached to the last. So don't worry about this story ending too soon yet.

Oh! And big thanks too all my wonderful reviewers last chapter! Your comments always make me want to get a new update to you as soon as I can.

**_Warning_**: Lots of violence and gore. This chapter probably warrants an R-rating, but I'm not going to change the overall rating of the story just for it. You've been warned.

**Chapter Ten: Unleashed Demon**

For a moment, it as difficult to say who was more surprised: Akatsuki or Naruto's friends and comrades. Everyone stared at the possessed boy in ill-contained horror and disbelief. From where he still lay bound by ninja-wire on the ground, Sasuke saw several Akatsuki's S-class ninja exchange startled glances, their high-collared cloaks not enough to hide their expressions. Even Itachi, standing several yards away, looked momentarily taken aback.

Kyuubi - in possession of Naruto's body - chuckled darkly, his fanged teeth bared in a demonic grin. The dancing firelight of his nine-chakra tails threw his features into dark, back-lit shadows. "At last…" he chuckled, flexing his clawed fingers almost experimentally. "After fifteen years I'm finally free…"

He chuckled again, the unholy sound echoing across the courtyard of horrified ninja. His slitted red eyes gleamed in the chakra-light, the same color of freshly spilt blood.

"Itachi," Kisame whispered, snapping around towards his partner, "what happened? Why wasn't the fox-demon pulled out of the brat's body?"

"I don't know," Itachi hissed. Even from a distance Sasuke could hear the angered confusion in his brother's voice. "This wasn't suppose to happen. The boy must have still been trying to fight the Seal Breaking. He must have been fighting to keep the fox-demon inside him, but been too weak to keep it from taking over his body."

"So much furtive whispering…" Kyuubi purred, glancing at Itachi and then sweeping his eyes around at the other S-class Akatsuki ninja. The corners of his slitted red eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a devilish grin. "I believe I owe you thanks for helping free me from the Fourth's prison. The boy's will to keep me sealed was proving harder to overcome than what one would originally expect from such an unimpressive kit."

The Akatsuki ninja shifted uneasily under Kyuubi's gaze, clearly unprepared for how to deal with their fifteen year old captive's demonic alter-ego.

"Then you must know why we released you," Itachi said, his Sharingan warily eyeing the possessed boy.

Kyuubi's grin slowly morphed into a contemptuous scowl. "Yes…" he murmured, drawling the syllable out between his teeth like a long strand of sugar-coated poison. "You plan to seal me away again so you can use me as some kind of tool for your organization's own profit."

"That was more or less our intent," Itachi replied.

The fox-demon's eyes narrowed. A low growl rumbled inside his throat like the first echo of an impending earthquake. "As _grateful_-" he spat the word out like it tasted foul "-as I am for your assistance in escaping, I do not plan to so willing exchange one prison for another. The lord of the bijuu is not meant to be captured, caged, or controlled. I will be slave to no mortal being."

"We already have six bijuu in our possession," Itachi said, slowly taking a step closer to Naruto's possessed form. "What makes you think you'll be any different and escape us?"

Kyuubi snarled, his chakra-tails lashing the air like fiery whips. His eyes flashed. The air around him suddenly grew hot and seemed to literally vibrate with the fox-demon's wrath. "You dare threaten me, human?" he hissed. "I will tear you in two before you ever come close to sealing me again."

"We'll see about that," Itachi smirked, his Sharingan spinning.

Sinking into a low battle-stance, the older Uchiha brought his hands up in front of his chest in an unfamiliar hand seal. Chanting under his breath, his hands flew into a complex series of seals, synchronized to the archaic words flowing from his lips.

Before anyone knew what was happening, bands of bluish chakra appeared in the air around Kyuubi and drew tight, lashing his arms down against his sides. The fox-demon howled in rage, his chakra-tails whipping back and forth and leaving black scorch marks where they struck the ground. With a monstrous roar and fiery surge of chakra, Kyuubi broke the chakra rings, his arms flailing free.

Without hesitation, Itachi's hands flew into another series of hand seals. More bands of chakra appeared around the raging fox-demon, once again drawing his limbs tight against his sides. The other Akatsuki ninja instantly followed suit, adding several dozen more chakra rings to Itachi's. Kyuubi was now a snarling, spitting whirlwind of uncontrolled rage. Random cyclones of fire flared in and out of existence around him as the demon wildly thrashed against his attackers' jutsu.

As Sasuke watched, one of the other S-class ninja conjured a chakra band around Kyuubi's ankles, forcing the fox-demon to his knees. Another presence suddenly appeared by Sasuke's side and cut the wire holding him with one quick swipe of his kunai.

"Kakashi," Sasuke gasped as the copy ninja helped him to his feet, "what are they doing?" He stared at Akatsuki and his demon-possessed friend, unable to look away as the Akatsuki-nin conjured more crackling blue rings around the raging fox-demon.

"They're trying to Bind him," Kakashi replied. His uncovered Sharingan shined in the chakra-light as he followed his student's gaze. "They're trying to use a jutsu that will put Kyuubi under their control."

"What?" Sasuke demanded, his head snapping towards his former teacher. "How can they do that? Even with all of them working together they can't possibly be strong enough to control Kyuubi. The Fourth Hokage himself died trying to seal it. There's no way they can control it."

"I know…" Kakashi murmured, "but it seems they're going to try anyway. I hate to think they might somehow succeed though. If they really do have six other bijuu, then they may be able to control Kyuubi after all…"

Sasuke stared at Kakashi, his blood running cold at the jounin's words. Could Akatsuki really be that powerful? Could they really have at some point over the last few years found a way to control the nine-tailed fox? The thought sent an icy chill down the Uchiha heir's spine. If Akatsuki really could control Kyuubi and harness its strength, then what hope did Konoha or any of its allies have of ever defeating the cloaking-wearing crime organization?

Kyuubi by now was almost completely bound. His arms were pinned down against his sides and his legs tightly lashed together from his knees to his ankles. He snarled and snapped his teeth as he thrashed against the bonds, but did not seem able to break them. His tails continued to viciously whip the air like an angry bunch of snakes, but did nothing more than leave blackened scorch marks across the ground. Unable to do anything else, Kyuubi glared at the cloaked ninja, his hatred almost tangible.

Gradually, Akatsuki's chanting died away.

Itachi chuckled as he stepped closer to the Bound demon-fox, a superior smirk plastered across his face. "That was it? That was all the great nine-tailed fox had to offer us? I was expecting so much more from you. If that is truly how strong you are then maybe Akatsuki needs to reevaluate how important you really are to us."

Kyuubi gnashed his teeth, his eyes flashing. "Watch your tongue, mortal…" Promised death rumbled off every syllable.

Itachi actually had the audacity to laugh. "Forgive me," he said with mock deference. "Perhaps you are only so weak right now because of the pitiful body you possess. The boy is, no doubt, in no condition to channel so much energy."

"Yes…" Kyuubi growled, glaring at the older Uchiha, "I know what tortures you put the child through. As much as I hate him for being my jail keeper, I do not appreciate my vessel being harmed."

"Then you will not resist us when we take you back to our headquarters and properly extract you from the boy. His body may eventually recover, but he will never be able to unleash the full potential of your chakra. This body is only dampening your true strength."

Kyuubi's eyes narrowed, his aura of killing intent thickening. "I already told you, human: I will be slave to no one. I will not be used as your tool."

"Unfortunately," Itachi smirked, "you are in no position to make such claims. You belong to us now."

If possible, Kyuubi's eyes narrowed even more until they were only two red slits of hatred. A dangerous growl rumbled deep inside his throat. "Is that so?" Kyuubi hissed, sparks of chakra crackling off his possessed form. "You really think you are strong enough to claim to be my master?" He bared his teeth in an ugly snarl. "Well I must inform you, you are gravely mistaken…"

Then with a violent surge of chakra and demonic roar, Kyuubi suddenly stood, the chakra-rings holding him captive disintegrating into a cloud of sparks. Everyone cried out and shielded their eyes from the frightening explosion.

"What the-!" Deidara cried as he and the other Akatsuki ninja leapt away. "How did he break the Binding Jutsu?"

But he never got an explanation.

Before anyone could react or even understand what was happening, Kyuubi rushed the startled Rock-nin and slashed his claws at the blond man's throat.

Deidara's head fell backwards, blood spraying from the shredded remains of his throat. His body crumpled to the ground - twitching slightly - before finally laying limp at Kyuubi's feet.

Dead.

For a moment no one moved or even seemed to breath. Everyone stared at Kyuubi in horror. Even Akatsuki's other S-class ninja seemed unable to comprehend the scene they'd just witnessed. Never had anyone defeated a S-class ninja - especially one of Akatsuki's top assassins! - so easily as if he were nothing but a helpless gennin. It was just unthinkable!

But as they watched - as if in emphasis of the terrifying fact that even S-class ninja were vulnerable to the nine-tailed fox-demon's wrath - a puddle of blood began to form underneath Deidara's motionless corpse and seep into the thirsty brown sand.

Shreds of bloody flesh dangling from his claws, Kyuubi slowly turned towards the other Akatsuki ninja, his face speckled with blood and twisted in a demonic snarl. There was no longer any hint of intelligence or rational thought in the fox-demon's slitted eyes. Sasuke couldn't help but feel he was now looking into the eyes of a mindless killing machine.

A strangled cry of outrage shattered the horrified silence of the courtyard.

"You bastard!" Hidan screamed. His giant three-bladed scythe was clutched in between his shaking fists as he glared at the possessed demon-boy. "No one kills a member of Akatsuki and gets away with it. I'll kill you!"

"Hidan, no!" Kakuzu yelled. But it was already too late.

Sinking into a battle-stance, Hidan gripped his scythe tighter as a pentagram-lined circle suddenly appeared on the ground beneath him. As Sasuke and the other Leaf ninja looked on in awe, Hidan's skin turned jet black with white patches and lines that crossed his face and body and gave him the eerie appearance of a living skeleton.

"May the gods of pain and death show you no mercy on your way to Hell, demon," Hidan hissed. "I have no doubt your final moments of suffering will be the most exquisite pleasure I have ever felt when I sacrifice you to my god…" Then spinning his scythe above his head by a long chain attached to the end of its shaft, he threw it at the nine-tailed fox demon.

Kyuubi dispassionately watched as the giant scythe sped towards him. But just before the razor-sharp blades could come anywhere close to cutting him, Kyuubi suddenly slashed his claws at the incoming weapon and watched as it harmlessly clattered to the ground in several different pieces.

Hidan could do nothing more than gap in disbelief at his shattered weapon before he looked up to find Kyuubi suddenly standing directly in front of him, his lips curled away from his teeth in a deadly snarl and his eyes flashing with uncontrolled bloodlust.

With the same ease of punching through an empty cardboard box, Kyuubi's clawed hand shot out and disappeared into the silver-haired ninja's chest with a slurpy crunch.

Hidan weakly looked down and stared at the point where Kyuubi's forearm disappeared into his chest. He stood there stalk-still, his expression one of dazed surprise as if unsure how such a thing had come to be. A thin trail of blood ran down his chin from the corner of his mouth.

Sasuke waited in a morbid state of suspense for the ninja's eyes to flutter close and his body go limp in death.

But no such thing happened.

Instead, as if shaking himself out of some sort of daze, Hidan gave a gurgled chuckle.

Kyuubi's eyes narrowed as Hidan slowly looked back up at him and gave another laugh.

"What do you find so funny, human?" Kyuubi snarled.

As if unbothered by the arm running through the center of his chest, Hidan smirked and leaned forward until his nose was mere inches away from Kyuubi's own. "You can't kill me so easily," Hidan chuckled, wiping the trail of blood away from his chin with the back of his hand. "Because of my religion, I am as close to being immortal as any human can be. Nothing less than the fires of Hell itself can kill me."

"Is that so?" Kyuubi purred, also leaning forward so his demonic eyes stared straight back into Hidan's. "Then your transition from this life to the next will be a smooth one…" He grinned at the uncertain look that flashed through the ninja's eyes. "I was born of the same fires you speak and wield them like my own chakra. May you burn in them forever…"

Then, like a small sun suddenly flaring to life around the Jashin-following ninja, Hidan's body disappeared in a pillar of crackling orange flames. Hidan's agonized screams echoed out of the fiery mass as the faint outline of his arms and legs wildly flailed and pin wheeled around Kyuubi's arm still holding him in place. The smell of burning flesh filled the courtyard. Several had to cover their noses against the sickening stench.

Finally, after what felt like forever to the on-looking group of ninja, Hidan's screams began to taper off and his limbs cease their frantic spasms. The aura of flames around him disappeared, and they were once again able to see the scythe-wielding ninja.

Sasuke felt his stomach clench and come dangerously close to losing the remains of his dinner at what he beheld.

Nothing but a twisted, flame-blackened skeleton hung from the end of Kyuubi's arm. Grinning, Kyuubi shook his fist free from the skeleton's ribcage and stepped back as Hidan's charred remains fell to the ground in a cloud of ash and heat-shattered bone. Hidan's blackened skull rolled over the ground once, twice before finally coming to a stop near Kyuubi's feet. With deliberate slowness, the fox-demon lifted his foot and brought it down on the charred skull, chuckling as it cracked under his weight with a hollow crunch.

Cries of horror broke out across the courtyard and more than a few ninja shrunk away in fear.

"The fool…" Kakuzu swore, staring at the dusty pile of his partner's remains. "He deserves that for attacking so recklessly.'

"Nevertheless," he hissed, turning pupiless eyes up towards Kyuubi, "he was still my partner. I cannot let his death go unavenged." With a sharp flick of his wrist, his cloak went sailing to the ground, exposing his thread-stitched arms and neck underneath. "You are too dangerous to be left unsealed or free to kill. You must be destroyed…"

"Kakuzu, don't be a fool and throw your life away like your worthless partner did," Kisame said. "Even in that brat's body, he's too strong for you to take on by yourself."

"Don't worry," Tobi said, stepping forward. "I'll help him. Deidara-senpai was my partner. Kakuzu and I must both avenge our partners' deaths."

With a quick series of hand seals, four black, white-masked creatures suddenly torn themselves from Kakuzu's back. Like hulking monsters they spread out behind the missing Waterfall-nin, tendrils of black thread sprouting off their bodies and ungulating in the air like hundreds of grasping tentacles.

Tobi took up position beside Kakuzu and his four mask-creatures.

Itachi and Kisame made no move to join them. Sasuke wasn't sure if it was because the two didn't feel it was their battle to rightfully fight, or they somehow sensed what power still remained hidden behind Kyuubi's human façade and had no desire to die by the fox-demon's hands like their other two comrades.

Kyuubi snarled, gnashing his teeth together as he turned to face the Akatsuki ninja. His chakra-tails viciously lashed the air, haloing him in fiery light as if he stood before the very gates of Hell.

"If I were to take this boy's body away from you, you are basically a creature made of living fire and hate," Kakuzu said, sinking into a battle stance. "So to defeat you, I will have to use a water element to neutralize your attacks…" He motioned to one of the creatures off to his side - one with a turtle-like mask.

The creature lumbered forward, the black threads that trailed off its body dancing in the air like dozens of charmed snakes. Kakuzu's hands flew into a complex series of hand seals. A blue aura of chakra surrounded the turtle-creature as it lowered its head in Kyuubi's direction and a tremendous surge of chakra thumped the air.

A mass of swirling blue energy suddenly formed in front of the creature's face before coalescing into a solid looking ball. It hovered there a moment in front of its mouth. And then, like being fired from some kind of high-powered canon, it shot towards the red-eyed demon.

The chakra ball hit Kyuubi with a sizzling explosion. Sparks, flames, and roiling clouds of steam - the result of water and fire coming together in a titanic clash of power - enveloped the fox-demon. A roar of pain echoed out of the steamy mass. As the steam slowly began to shift aside like thin curtains of gossamer, Kyuubi was once again visible.

Blisters and reddish patches covered Kyuubi's face, neck, and arms; every inch of his exposed skin scalded by the intense heat that had just surrounded him. But even as they watched, the injuries began to heal in front of their very eyes until Kyuubi looked exactly the way he did no more than several moments ago - his skin once again smooth and unblemished.

"Do you really think you can defeat me so easily?!" Kyuubi screamed, his eyes filled with mindless rage. "Elemental chakra means nothing to the lord of the bijuu! I will kill you!"

Snarling, Kyuubi lunged at the turtle-creature. The creature moved to defend itself, but was no match for the faster demon-boy. Kyuubi slashed blood-stained claws at the thread-monster's face. An unearthly scream pierced the air as the turtle-creature reared away, its white mask shattering into several different pieces. The creature collapsed to the ground in a mass of twitching black threads. Its limbs spasmed once, twice, three times before slumping and laying there in a motionless black pile.

Kakuzu screamed and clutched his chest, breathing heavily as if in some kind of tremendous pain. "Damn you," he swore, struggling to form coherent words. "You just destroyed one of my hearts…" He glanced at his other three mask-creatures. "I'll make you pay for that." With another series of hand seals, the other three monsters began to move towards Kyuubi, their thread-tentacles ungulating in the air.

Together, the three attacked at the same time, their thread-tentacles shooting out to wrap around Kyuubi's limbs and body. With hardly any effort, Kyuubi twisted in place and sliced the strands holding him hostage and lunged at the nearest mask-creature - a smaller monster with an eagle-like mask. With a surge of chakra from Kyuubi, the creature was engulfed in a mass of roaring flames. The eagle-creature thrashed and screamed, uncontrolled wind-chakra surrounding it before its flailing body finally fell to the ground and lay beside the turtle-creature in a pile of smoldering ash.

The other two creatures - a lion and ox-masked thing - rushed Kyuubi. They, like their two predecessors, were no match for the fox-demon and fell victim to his claws and boundless wrath like leaves caught in the path of a raging forest fire.

Kakuzu, by now, had collapsed to one knee, gasping for breath as he clutched his chest. "My hearts," he wheezed. "You destroyed my hearts… They're all gone…"

"Just like I'm going to destroy the last one still beating in your chest," Kyuubi snarled, wheeling around towards the fallen ninja. His eyes flashed like two pools of molten fire. He began to stalk towards Kakuzu like a demonic harbinger of Death. But before he could get within ten paces of him, a sudden lightening bolt of chakra struck the ground several inches in front of his toes and forced Kyuubi to leap backwards to avoid it.

Kyuubi's chakra tails lashed the air as his head snapped up in the direction the attack had come.

"Please don't forget about me," Tobi said, stepping forward. "You still have to pay for killing my partner, Deidara-senpai."

"You dare challenge me?" Kyuubi snarled, turning to face him. "You are doing nothing but hastening your own death."

"Perhaps," Tobi replied, "but at least I will die trying to avenge my partner's death."

Kyuubi smiled. Or at least what would pass for a smile on the fox-demon's face. It was more like a grotesque snarl made by peeling his lips up away from his teeth. There was no hint of happiness or warmth in that expression like the boy whose body Kyuubi possessed used to always make. It was now only an expression of madness, carnage, death, and sadistic bloodlust.

With this demonic grin twisting his face, Kyuubi rushed Tobi. The two met in a titanic clash of crackling blue chakra and fire. The masked Akatsuki-nin moved with unforeseen speed and skill; dodging, blocking, and counterattacking almost every swipe of Kyuubi's claws. Chakra choked the air around the two as they continued their immortal dance of death. Chakra flared, flesh collided in bone-rattling blows, and tongues of fire blinked in and out of existence. Tobi and Kyuubi spun and clashed in almost perfect harmony, as if they had somehow practiced their deadly routine before.

With a set of hand seals almost too fast for human eyes to follow, Tobi suddenly sent a mass of chakra racing at Kyuubi. The jutsu hit the fox-demon full in the chest with a deafening explosion. Kyuubi roared in pain and disappeared in the resulting flash of light and billowing cloud of smoke.

For a moment, no one could see. Sasuke blinked his eyes, trying to drive away the spots burned into his retinas.

A thick cloud of smoke hung over the area where Kyuubi had disappeared. Tobi stood several yards away in a tense ready stance, staring at the smoke-filled area with his hands held in front of his chest, ready to send them flying into another jutsu at a moment's notice.

The smoke began to clear, drifting away on the night breeze in wispy tendrils, only to reveal-

"Where is he!" Tobi exclaimed, his startled voice echoing across the courtyard as he stared at the now empty area of sand where Kyuubi should have been. He frantically looked around. "Where did he go?"

From the other side of the courtyard, Sasuke saw a blurry figure suddenly materialize behind the masked ninja seemingly out of nowhere.

"Looking for me, human?" it said before he or anyone else could even call out a warning.

As Tobi spun around to face the voice, Sasuke saw the flash of razor sharp claws in the moonlight and then a misty spray of liquid in its wake. The masked ninja froze, his entire body going stiff. He didn't scream, he didn't cry out. He just weakly clutched his stomach, as if too startled to do anything else. Blood so dark that it almost looked black poured out between his fingers down the front of his shredded cloak. Wet, unidentifiable fleshy masses pressed against his frantically groping hands as he struggled to hold the sliced edges of his stomach together.

Tobi weakly staggered backwards away from Kyuubi, still clutching his middle, until his knees finally gave out from under him and he collapsed to the ground. A gurgled cough sounded behind his mask. His hands weakly groped at the slippery entrails seeping between his fingers until they finally stilled and his entire body went limp.

"Merciful Kannon…" Kakashi breathed, his mismatched eyes wide with horror as he stared at his possessed student.

Sasuke felt bile rise in the back of his throat, threatening to overcome his natural desensitization to gore.

Ignoring the gasps of revulsion and horror around him, Kyuubi slowly turned back towards Kakuzu, who still knelt on one knee where Kyuubi had left him, staring at Tobi's motionless corpse with unreadable white eyes.

The ninja's face was blank, but there was a sudden aura of grim understanding that seemed to surround him like a winter cloak. "You truly are a monster…" he murmured, slowly tearing pupilless eyes away from Tobi to stare at the chakra-tailed boy. "There really isn't any way to stop you, is there?"

Kyuubi chuckled, the corners of his slitted eyes crinkling with mirth. "Finally you understand the futility of all this," he said, his lips twisting into an evil grin. "You can never hope to defeat me."

Then, moving so fast that his body was nothing but a blurry afterimage, Kyuubi was suddenly standing right in front of Kakuzu. His hand shot out, disappearing into the ninja's chest much like he'd done with Hidan, and then reappeared, his fingers closed around the still beating mass of Kakuzu's last remaining heart.

The missing Waterfall-nin didn't make a sound as his lifeless body pitched forward and lay there at Kyuubi's feet, dead.

Kyuubi's face lit with manic glee as he slowly glanced at the last two S-class Akatsuki ninja there, and gave them a bloodthirsty leer. Itachi and Kisame both stepped back, their eyes narrowed at the blood-splattered demon-vessel. Chuckling under his breath, Kyuubi lifted Kakuzu's heart that was still clutched in his hand and squeezed, laughing outright when the bloody organ popped under the pressure and oozed down his arm.

"I believe it is time we call a retreat," Itachi calmly said, glancing at Kisame out of the corner of his eye. "I fear we underestimated our target and are no longer any match for him. I suggest we fall back and reevaluate our next move."

"Agreed," Kisame replied.

Then with a rapid series of hand seals, the two disappeared in twin clouds of smoke. The other Akatsuki ninja all followed suit and also puffed out of existence.

"Cowards…" Kyuubi hissed, staring at the wispy tendrils of smoke where Itachi and Kisame had just been standing. "They're only delaying the inevitable. It doesn't matter how far away they run, I'll still find them and tear them to pieces… At least," he smirked, slowly turning to scan the dozens of horrified Leaf ninja around him, "I wasn't left without some form of entertainment in the meantime…"

_To Be Continued…_

Okay, if anyone was confused at the parts concerning elemental chakra or Kakuzu's multiple hearts, it makes a lot more sense if you've been keeping up with the latest chapters of the manga. I also realize there's some discrepancies about the details concerning Kakuzu's extra hearts and what bodies they're actually housed in, but I don't care. I'm taking artistic licensing with those details.

Oh! And if anyone's curious, I was bored over my long hiatus and made a few hand-drawn illustrations from scenes of "Blood Stained Hands." So if you're interested, check out my profile for the link to them.

Any thoughts on this latest chapter? Sasuke and co. better get ready 'cause Kyuubi's coming after them next! Eep!

PLEASE REVIEW!


	11. A Painful Request

Immediate feedback for the last chapter was lukewarm at best, and I kind of agree that something was missing and it didn't really stand up to snuff with previous chapters. That's why I took a short hiatus from this story to give myself some space to recharge my batteries and work on a different story in another genre. We'll see how this chapter goes, but if this chapter doesn't go over well either, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this story. This is by no means a threat to somehow get more reviews; this is just a small FYI for future reference.

**Chapter Eleven: A Painful Request**

Sasuke stared at his possessed friend, a numb wash of horror making his blood run cold. Kyuubi's red eyes gleamed in the light of his chakra-tails as he slowly looked around the courtyard of Konoha ninja - like a hungry wolf eyeing a herd of startled deer. His lips were curled away from his teeth in a grotesque parody of the honest, inviting smile that had always graced the face of the boy the fox-demon currently possessed. Blood and strands of sinewy gore dangled from his claws from the dead Akatsuki ninja laying in dismembered heaps around him.

To the horrified Uchiha heir, he looked just like some ancient god of death.

"I cannot tell you how long I've wanted revenge against this village for your leader locking me in this body," Kyuubi said, his voice echoing through the silent courtyard. "For fifteen years now I've had to bide my time and plot my revenge. I hadn't been expecting any kind of assistance in breaking past the Fourth's seal, but Akatsuki proved more useful than originally expected…" The possessed demon-vessel gave a nasty chuckle as he glanced at the bloody corpses littering the ground. "They planned to kill my vessel and use me as their tool, but in the end it was them that died to help me gain my freedom. How very ironic…" Another chuckle rumbled Kyuubi's throat and sent a cold shiver down Sasuke's spine.

"And now-" the fox-demon victoriously announced, looking around the courtyard of horrified Leaf ninja, "-I'm finally free to punish those that tried to keep me sealed away." His face broke into a malevolent grin. "Let the fun begin."

Before Sasuke or any of the other ninja there knew what was going on, a towering wall of flames suddenly sprang to life around them, ringing the entire Uchiha-complex like a fiery siege wall. The flames climbed into the night sky several hundred feet, as if trying to scorch the very stars. The moon disappeared from view behind the towering inferno and roiling clouds of smoke.

Within seconds the air became blistering hot. Sasuke could barely breath. It was like being trapped in some sort of blast furnace, or the deepest circle of hell. Sweat broke out across his body and soaked the cloth backing of his forehead protector. He felt his skin tighten around him like some kind of invisible shell. Somewhere off to the side, he heard somebody - probably one of the other Rookie Nine - begin coughing on the suffocating hot air.

Blinking his eyes against the stinging heat, Sasuke glanced at Kyuubi, startled by this unnatural show of power. The fox-demon grinned, his sharpened fangs flashing in the fire-light. "This is to make sure none of you try to escape too," Kyuubi explained with a grin. "I don't want any more of my playthings to get away."

Subconsciously, the ninja began to move closer to each other, closing rank to form a protective huddle against the demonic fire-storm. In the midst of them all, Sakura rushed to Jiraiya's side who had gone frighteningly still where he'd collapsed from Kisame's earlier attack. The Sannin's face was deathly pale. His clothes and the sand beneath him were caked thick with dark red blood. Gathering chakra to her palms, Sakura pressed them to Jiraiya's shoulder, desperately trying to staunch the flow of blood that was steadily draining the Toad Sage of life.

"Kakashi!" Gai yelled over the roar of flames. "What do we do? We're trapped!"

The copy-ninja didn't immediately answer. Sasuke glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and saw a thick sheen of sweat appear on his sensei's brow. For some reason, he had a feeling it wasn't because of the heat though. Kakashi's mismatched eyes were wide, the visible portion of his face etched with fear. Sasuke saw that same fear mirrored in everyone else there.

No matter how skilled Konoha's finest were, none of them were strong enough to defeat the destructive force of nature that was Kyuubi, undenied lord of the bijuu. Even channeled through the body of a tortured, half-starved, fifteen-year old boy, no mortal being hoped to stand a chance against the fox's demonic storm of chakra.

The blood-splattered remains of Akatsuki's top ninja should have been enough proof of that.

"We have to somehow reactivate the Fourth's seal," Kakashi finally replied, "or somehow get Naruto to regain control."

Dark laughter echoed across the flame-enclosed courtyard, interrupting Kakashi.

"You are wasting your time, human," Kyuubi chuckled. "The kit's too far away for you to reach. I locked his subconscious away just like the Fourth did to me all those years ago. He's too weak to fight me anymore."

"Do not underestimate Naruto!" Lee yelled, angrily clenching a fist at the possessed demon-vessel. "He is a shinobi in the truest sense of the word. He would never admit defeat to you!"

Kyuubi chuckled under his breath. "You don't know how badly that boy's suffered these last few months. His will to fight is all but gone. He's so very, very tired and in so much pain. Do you know how many times he wished for death to release him while he was still in Akatsuki's hands? Many. It was only some instinctual desire to live that kept him from out-rightly taking his own life. His desire for death still grows everyday though. You could almost say I am being merciful by locking him away like this. You see, I have no desire to see him dead either; because if he dies, then so do I. His subconscious is in a place you will never reach."

"You should have learned by now that you should never underestimate your enemies," Neji said, glaring at the fox-demon with narrowed eyes. "You were sealed once, you can be sealed again."

Kyuubi's face twisted into a snarl, Naruto's possessed features contorting into an expression so wrathful and inhuman his friends never would have thought such an expression possible for the happy-go-lucky boy to make.

"It is you that overestimate your chances of survival," Kyuubi hissed, his voice rumbling the air like an approaching thunderstorm. "You have no hope of defeating me. I am lord of the bijuu. My very name strikes fear into the hearts of every creature on this planet. I have lived for countless centuries and brought terror and death to more people than you can ever imagine! Countless shinobi and shamen have lost their lives to me, including your precious Fourth Hokage! So do not think for a moment you will ever defeat me! That child might have been my jail keeper for the last fifteen years, but no longer! He is broken and defeated! I am Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox-demon! Compared to you pitiful humans, I. Am. A. _God_!"

The wall of flames surrounding the compound flared hotter, as if directly fueled by Kyuubi's rage. His chakra-tails wildly lashed the air, leaving long scorch marks across the ground where they hit.

Naruto's friends all cringed away under the almost tangible wave of hatred that rolled off the possessed boy.

"We have to try and reactivate the Fourth's seal!" Kakashi yelled, shielding his face from the roiling waves of heat with his arm. "Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, do any of you know the Five Elements Sealing Technique?"

"I do," Gai shouted.

Asuma and Kurenai, however, shook their heads.

"What are you planning to do?" Asuma said.

"Kyuubi's managed to break past the Fourth's Four Symbols Seal which allows his chakra to leak out into Naruto's own, but he wasn't able to actually break past the curse seal which is still keeping him inside Naruto's body," Kakashi replied. "The Five Elements Seal will cut off Kyuubi's chakra and strengthen the Fourth's original curse seal."

"But that technique will completely disrupt Naruto's chakra flow," Kurenai said. "He won't be able to use any chakra even if he does regain control of his body."

"I know," Kakashi murmured. "But it's the only hope we have right now to stop Kyuubi from destroying us and all of Konoha. We'll worry about restoring Naruto's ability to use chakra when he's not possessed anymore. The only other thing I can think of to stop Kyuubi would be to kill Naruto. And I really don't want to have to resort to that just yet…"

Sasuke wasn't the only one to stare at his sensei in horror, his breath catching in the back of his throat. Kakashi couldn't be serious! He couldn't possibly be suggesting they do what he thought he was if they ultimately failed reactivating the Fourth's seal!

Kakashi looked around at all the other trapped shinobi. "The Five Elements Seal is a close range technique, so Gai and I have to get within one meter of Kyuubi to do it. It will be extremely dangerous, but I need you all to distract Kyuubi long enough for us to get an opening to attack. Are you willing to risk it?"

Without hesitation, Sasuke stepped forward. "I am." The quickness and determination with which he answered did not go unnoticed. Many of the former rookies cast him long, penetrating looks. But for once, there wasn't any hint of animosity in them for the former deserter.

"So am I."

"Anything for Naruto."

"Of course we'll help."

"He's our friend too."

"He would've done the same thing for any of us."

One by one, the other rookies and Gai-sensei's teams all stepped forward, determination burning in their eyes. Kurenai and Asuma also nodded their willingness to help.

"Do you really think some spur of the moment battle plan will work against me?" Kyuubi's voice shattered their aura of camaraderie. The possessed demon-vessel was staring at them, his teeth bared in a dangerous snarl. In the flickering light of the fire-barrier, his skin glowed a hellish orange. The blood from the dead Akatsuki ninja gleamed like wet tar on his hands almost all the way up to his elbows. Tiny cyclones of fire flared in and out of existence around him in the sizzling hot air. Like a hungry predator he began to advance on them, his chakra-tails lashing the air like fiery whips. "I won't stand for anymore of your foolish whispering," he snarled, promised death rumbling off every syllable. "This ends now! And once I finish with you, I intend to level this entire village to the ground and turn everyone in it to ash!"

Then with a feral howl, he lunged at the nearest person standing on the edge of the group - Shino Aburame.

The insect-master barely had time to leap to the side before Kyuubi's claws slashed the air right where he'd been standing only half a second before.

"Ino, Shikamaru, Choji! To the right!" Asuma yelled as the entire group scattered from the enraged demon.

"Team Eight, to me!" Kurenai cried. She and her student swiftly diverted to the left.

"Neji, Tenten, flank around to the opposite side!" Gai's voice rang over the background roar of fire. "Lee, stay and protect Sakura while she heals Jiraiya." As his students sprung away, Gai turned to Kakashi. "We'll attack from different sides. But we'll probably only have one shot each at hitting Kyuubi with the Seal. He won't let us close enough to use the same attack twice."

"I know," Kakashi murmured. "Try to attack from the back, but be careful of those tails. I have no doubt they'll kill you if you get hit by one of them."

"I will. Just worry about not getting yourself killed, rival," Gai murmured with a humorless grin. Then with only a parting nod, Gai disappeared from Kakashi's side almost as if he'd never even been there.

Sasuke saw him reappear across from them on the other side of Kyuubi.

Now ringed on all sides, Kyuubi looked around, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a fearsome snarl, like a tiger trapped in a circle of hunters.

"Sasuke," Kakashi whispered, "I want you to watch the jutsu Gai and I are about use with your Sharingan. If something should happen to either of us that keeps us from being able to perform the Seal, you'll have to take our place. Your Sharingan makes you the only one that can learn it fast enough if the worst should happen…"

Sasuke didn't say anything in reply, and solemnly nodded his head. Closing his eyes, he felt the familiar pulse of chakra course through the retinas and cones of his eyes. When he opened them again, his vision was washed with a faint glow of red; his pupils - he knew - now ringed by swirling black tomoe spokes. Gripping his kunai tighter, the boy turned to Kyuubi and sunk into a battle stance.

This was it. This was their final chance to save his friend. If they failed resealing Kyuubi then there was no saying what would happen to them or the boy the fox-demon currently possessed. Naruto's conscious was locked away somewhere in that fox's mind, making him a prisoner in his own body. It wasn't right. His friend had already suffered so much because of Kyuubi. If he could just reach Naruto, he knew he could think of something to help Naruto regain control. The only question was was if the broken boy was still willing to fight anymore to regain that control. Sasuke had already seen how hopeless and defeated Naruto had been before he'd been possessed. There was no saying now how much weaker his friend's will to live had become…

"You foolish, humans," Kyuubi hissed, glaring at the circle of ninja. "I will make you suffer for your impudence. No one challenges the nine-tailed fox demon and lives to tell about it. Your deaths will all be slow and painful in coming."

Sasuke didn't know who moved first - Kyuubi or his fellow ninja. All he knew was that within seconds, the flame-encircled courtyard had become a massive moving entity of bodies and crackling chakra - more than a dozen Leaf ninja locked in mortal combat with the possessed demon vessel.

Sasuke's conscious world became a blurry kaleidoscope of chakra-tails, fists, moving bodies, jutsu, slitted red eyes, and claws.

He fell into the familiar rhythm of battle.

Dodge, feint, back-spring, shuriken, dodge, retreat, pause, lunge, jutsu attack, dodge, spin, shuriken.

It was a deadly dance. One he had learned from his earliest childhood. It was as familiar as breathing. But this battle held more meaning than just life or death to Sasuke Uchiha this time; because this battle would determine not only the fate of himself, his teammates, comrades, and village, but more importantly the fate of his only friend - a boy who little more than two years ago had risked his own dreams and ambitions to save him from the darkness of his own hatred and revenge. This battle was to determine the fate of the only one who had ever managed to make Sasuke see the possibility of happiness in this world of loneliness and despair. The one who had given him a reason to hope again. The only one to selflessly give everything he had for everyone else with no expectation of anything in return. The one who would lay down his life for a friend in a heartbeat (and for once Sasuke could do the same for now in return).

This time Sasuke was fighting for Naruto Uzumaki. And that made this battle all the more important. Because this time, nothing was going to stop Sasuke from getting his friend back once and for all. Even if he had to wrestle that fox-demon back into the Fourth's prison with his own two hands, he wasn't going to let Kyuubi hurt his friend anymore…

Tenten was raining a hail of shuriken down on the possessed demon vessel from one of her weapons scrolls. But all of them met their end in a fiery blast of chakra from Kyuubi, which vaporized them midair as if they were nothing but a pesky swarm of flies. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Neji's hands fly into a complex series of hand-signs. The familiar snap-hiss of chakra filled the air, and a wave of crackling blue light raced towards Kyuubi. This attack too was neutralized by a pulse of demonic chakra.

Kyuubi turned towards the two, hatred rolling off him in almost tangible waves -

and for a brief moment, exposed his side for an opening to attack.

Without hesitation, Sasuke took it. He lunged forward, ready to deliver a kick to the side of the demon-vessel's head.

But before he could get within five feet of his possessed friend, Kyuubi seemed to sense his presence and wheeled around on him, his chakra-tails lashing the air.

Sasuke barely managed to duck in time before one tail came dangerously close to swiping his left arm, forcing to him to drop and roll away across the ground. The air sizzled as Kyuubi's tail swept over him. More crackling auras of jutsu sounded somewhere off to the side, diverting Kyuubi's attention away from him back towards the others. With a monstrous roar Kyuubi lunged at Kiba and Akamaru who had moved forward to fight him.

Panting where he lay, Sasuke held his arm. His Sharingan-tinged vision flared white with pain. Although he hadn't been directly hit, the heat-auras that radiated off Kyuubi's tails were still hot enough to leave what felt like at least second degree burns.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Sasuke began to force himself up off the ground, cradling his blistered limb to his chest.

Suddenly, there was another presence beside him. "Stay down, Sasuke. You're hurt."

Looking up, he found himself staring up into none other than Shikamaru Nara's face. The strategy-genius's face was covered with sweat and dirt, his ponytail mussed. But despite his disheveled appearance and their perilous situation, Sasuke couldn't help but detect a hint of Shikamaru's familiar aplomb of idle indifference.

Ino suddenly appeared beside Shikamaru and knelt beside Sasuke. "Let me see your arm," she said, holding her hands over his injured limb. She too looked like she'd just survived the deepest circle of hell. Her usually immaculate hair was matted down with sweat and her face flushed red from the surrounding wall of flames. Bright green chakra encased her hands as she began to heal the blisters and suppurating burns that had already sprouted across Sasuke's bicep and forearm.

When Ino finally finished and leaned away, Sasuke found his arm completely healed. Experimentally flexing his elbow and finding everything in working order, Sasuke nodded his thanks to the blonde kunoichi.

"This is bad," Shikamaru said as he, Sasuke, and Ino all turned back towards the ongoing battle. "We can barely get close enough to Kyuubi to fight hand to hand, and nothing we do seems able to slow him down. All we're doing right now is playing a doomed game of cat and mouse. Gai and Kakashi still haven't been able to get anywhere close enough to try that sealing technique."

"What about your shadow justsu?" Sasuke said. Ino and Shikamaru both looked up at him in surprise. "If Ino and I both rushed Kyuubi at the same time and distracted him, would that give you enough of an opening to catch him in your Shadow Freezing jutsu?"

Shikamaru seemed hesitant. "Possibly. But with this fire wall around us, I don't know if there's any way for me to cast enough of a shadow. There's too much light coming from every angle. And even if I could catch Kyuubi in my jutsu, I know I wouldn't be able to hold him for long. He's too powerful. Kakashi and Gai would have to attack within moments of me catching him."

Sasuke nodded. "They'll both be looking for the opening and take it. You have to try it. It's our only chance. We're not going to last much longer against Kyuubi like this. It's now or never."

Shikamaru studied Sasuke for a long moment of silence with unreadable eyes. But then giving a heavy sigh, the lazy genius looked away back towards their demonic opponent. "Gods, this is so troublesome… This better work, Uchiha, or I'm blaming you."

Sasuke didn't bother to reply. Glancing at Ino, he nodded and the two jumped back into the fray of battle. Moving side by side, they maneuvered closer to Kyuubi who was currently fighting Asuma. The jounin was using his trademark wind-chakra blades, but they seemed powerless against the possessed demon vessel. Each stab or slash from Asuma's chakra-blades was deftly batted away with the back of Kyuubi's forearm.

Swiping his claws at Asuma - intent on slashing the man's throat in half - Kyuubi forced the man to back-spring away to a safer distance-

And that was when Sasuke and Ino attacked.

Moving in unison, the two rushed Kyuubi from different sides. Both of their hands flew into hand-signs - Sasuke conjuring a Kanton Fireball and Ino a powerful chakra wave - and released them with thundering force on their possessed friend.

Just as expected, Kyuubi was unfazed by the attacks. Ino's jutsu got no closer then several paces from him before it was subsequently snuffed out by a flare of Kyuubi's chakra. Sasuke's fireball seemed to hit some kind of invisible shield several feet away from Kyuubi and dissipated in a cloud of smoke.

Kyuubi turned on them, his eyes flashing death. But before the fox-demon could come at them in retaliation, he suddenly faltered, pausing mid-step as his muscles froze.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke spied Shikamaru standing several dozen paces away with his fingers held in front of his face in a hand seal with a narrow shadow-trail stretching out from him to the fox-demon's feet.

"Gai, Kakashi, now!" he yelled between gritted teeth as his body visibly began to shake with the effort of holding Kyuubi. A new sheen of sweat broke out across his forehead.

Kakashi and Gai sped forward, their bodies moving so fast they were only blurry streaks even to Sasuke's Sharingan before they were suddenly both standing directly in front of the paralyzed demon. Auras of chakra flared into being around their hands, which Gai and Kakashi both slammed against Kyuubi's stomach directly over the Fourth's curse seal.

Kyuubi howled in pain.

Sasuke saw Shikamaru collapse to his knees, unable to hold Kyuubi anymore.

The demon-vessel clutched his stomach, heaving for breath. His chakra-tails one by one drooped limp to the ground behind him, the sand melting into an almost instantaneous pool of glass beneath them.

Everyone watched with batted breath, waiting to see if Kakashi's technique had worked. They waited for the chakra-tails to flicker out of existence and the red to drain from their friend's eyes. They waited in unbearable suspense for the demon to retreat back into his prison and their battered friend to reemerge.

But it seemed Kyuubi was more powerful than any of them had ever imagined…

"You stupid mortals!" he howled, and with an apocalyptic flare of chakra abruptly stood straight again, his eyes flashing like they were windows into the very depths of hell. His chakra-tails began to coil and lash the air again like a knot of angry vipers. The air around him grew suffocating hot. "I told you your foolish tricks will not work against me!"

Then moving faster than half the people there could track with their eyes, Kyuubi lunged at Kakashi and Gai. Before the two jounin could defend themselves, Kyuubi's claws slashed the air.

Sasuke saw a misty spurt of blood, and then Kakashi sent flying backwards several dozen feet before he hit the ground with a sickening thud. He lay there motionless, his mismatched eyes tightly closed. The front of his jounin vest was torn by four long slash marks that ran from his left shoulder all the way across his chest to his right ribcage. Blood poured from each of them, soaking his vest red. Sasuke saw a thin trail of blood roll down the side of his sensei's face from underneath his forehead protector.

"Kakashi!" Gai yelled. But before he could go to his rival's aide, one of Kyuubi's tails whipped the air and hit him full in the chest. The man flew backwards and lay in a jumbled heap. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air. Sasuke had to look away. Gai's chest was nothing but a blackened mass of charred flesh and cloth.

Several of the former rookies and other sensei rushed to the injured men's sides.

"Kakashi? Kakashi, answer me!" Kurenai yelled, shaking the older man as she desperately pressed her hands to his mutilated chest.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee's terrified shout echoed across the courtyard over the background roar of fire. He, Neji and Tenten were all huddled around their fallen sensei. Ino kneeled close beside them but seemed unsure where to even start to heal the horrific burns covering half the unconscious man's torso.

A vicious growl came from Kyuubi's direction, the fox-demon watching them with furious red eyes.

"I told them they couldn't stop me," he hissed. The air rumbled with his wrath.

Sasuke stood there in a daze. Kakashi's technique hadn't worked. Kyuubi was still in control of Naruto's body. This wasn't right! Naruto should have been able to regain control by now. He saw Gai and Kakashi both land the sealing jutsu on Kyuubi. It should have worked. Unless…

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, stepping towards his possessed friend. "I know you can hear me, Naruto! You have to push Kyuubi back! You have to fight him!"

Kyuubi slowly glanced at Sasuke, his eyes narrowed into slits as his lips curved into an annoyed snarl. "The kit can't hear you, boy," he hissed. "And even if he could, he's too weak to fight me. He's finished."

"I don't believe you," Sasuke growled. "Naruto's stronger than you think. He's defeated worst scum than you."

"Is that so?" Kyuubi said. He began to stalk towards Sasuke, his chakra-tails framing him in a fiery halo of light. "Then you think he can stop me before I rip your throat out?"

"I know he will," Sasuke confidently replied. The Uchiha stood his ground as Kyuubi drew closer like some kind of demonic god of death.

Tiny drops of blood dripped from the ends of Kyuubi's claws. His scarlet eyes stared straight down into Sasuke's. Sasuke could feel his skin prickle from the intense heat radiating off the fox-demon's body as Kyuubi came within only paces of where he stood with his hands held limp by his sides.

"I have faith Naruto will stop you," Sasuke murmured as Kyuubi lifted his hand - the blood coating his claws flashing in the firelight- "because I know that Naruto would never let you hurt one of his precious people…"

Kyuubi snickered evilly. "Then may that pathetic delusion of faith be your last living thought," he said, and swiped his claws at Sasuke's throat.

Sasuke stood there motionless, defiantly staring back at Kyuubi even as death rushed towards him almost as if in slow motion.

But just before the fox-demon's claws could cover the last few inches needed to end the young Uchiha's life, Kyuubi suddenly froze, his hand halting midair. Sasuke saw surprise flash through the demon's eyes.

As Sasuke watched, Kyuubi began to tremble, the fox-demon visibly fighting to move. With a vicious snarl, Kyuubi whirled away from Sasuke, gripping his one hand as if it suddenly pained him.

"How?!" he roared, his anger physically vibrating the air. "How is this possible? You shouldn't be able to fight me!"

Staggering, Kuubi collapsed to his knees in the middle of the flame encircled courtyard gripping either side of his head. He began to shake it back and forth, as though trying to rid his ears of something only he could hear. "No! It's not possible! I locked you away! You shouldn't be able to fight me! You're all but gone!"

Kyuubi's chakra-tails began to flicker, like candles sputtering in the wind.

"No!" Kyuubi roared. "I won't let you defeat me!"

But then with a thundering roar of anger, Kyuubi collapsed to the ground.

Like someone flicking a light switch off, the fire wall surrounding the compound and Kyuubi's chakra tails all abruptly blinked out of existence.

At the sudden loss of light, Sasuke was momentarily blind. Bright afterimages danced across his vision. Everything was dark. As he furiously blinked his eyes he was slowly able to make out shapes again as his eyes adjusted to the comparatively dim moonlight overhead. Looking around it was hard to believe that this was the same place as the fiery hell he'd just been trapped in a moment ago.

With his sight half returned, Sasuke turned towards the still figure laying several yards away in the middle of the now dark, blood-soaked courtyard.

Silence stung his ears as he and everyone else stared at the crumpled figure. For a moment no one moved or even seemed to breath.

A cool breeze drifted across the courtyard, chilling Sasuke's sweaty neck and face. The coppery smell of blood drifted on the wind.

Slowly, hesitantly Sasuke took a step towards his friend's still form. He cautiously moved closer, half expecting Kyuubi's chakra to flare back to life at any moment.

"Naruto?" he called. His voice rang like a gunshot through the tense silence.

As if woken by the Uchiha's voice, the crumpled form began to stir.

With a murmured groan, the blond shifted off the ground, painfully pushing himself to his knees. The boy knelt there a moment, his head bowed to his chest as if too weak to actually lift it. Then slowly, ever so painfully slow, he raised it and looked in Sasuke's direction.

As the moonlight washed over the figure's bone-sharp features, Sasuke had to choke back an almost painful rush of emotions that rose in the back of his throat.

For staring back at him from that emaciated face were not the slitted red eyes of the fox-demon Kyuubi, but rather the bright blue orbs of his one and only friend. Kyuubi's feral looks were gone along with any trace of demonic chakra, and replaced with the haggard, confused expression of a fifteen-year old boy.

Shakily, as if in a daze and unsure of where he even was, Naruto looked around the blood-spattered courtyard. His eyes widened at the sight of mutilated bodies around him. The color drained from his face. His whole body began to shake. Slowly, he raised his hands so he could see them in the silvery moonlight. For a moment Naruto just sat there, staring at his blood-stained hands. But then, slowly shaking his head as if in denial of the terrible sight, Naruto clenched his eyes shut and released a gut-wrenching sob. Several tears streaked down his hollowed cheeks.

"No…" Naruto murmured, shaking his head as that word rolled off his tongue again and again in a horrified chant of denial. "No… no, no, no, no, _noooooo!_"

Screaming his horror into the night, Naruto clenched his bloody fists and bent down over them. Violent sobs wracked his skeletal body.

Sasuke quickly hurried to Naruto's side and knelt down beside him. "Naruto…" he murmured, and stretched his arm out to put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Naruto screamed, violently cringing away from the other boy's touch.

Startled, Sasuke retracted his hand, but remained where he knelt by Naruto's side.

Choking on his tears, Naruto huddled into a tiny ball, as if trying to escape the horrible dream he'd just woken up in. "Who did I kill?" he demanded. He'd begun to rock back and forth where he knelt, clutching his blood-stained hands to his stomach. "Who was it that I killed?!"

Sasuke could hear the threat of an impending mental breakdown in his friend's voice if he didn't chose his next words carefully.

"They were just Akatsuki ninja," he murmured. "It wasn't anyone we knew. They were trying to kill you. It wasn't your fault. Kyuubi was possessing you. None of this was your fault."

But Naruto didn't seem to hear. "I killed them… It's all my fault, I killed them…" he sobbed over and over as he rocked himself back and forth on the chakra-scorched ground. Tears streamed down his cheeks as if he had no power or will to try and stop them. His entire body trembled, shaking in horror at the sight of sticky blood covering his hands.

Sasuke felt his heart clench at the sight of so much suffering and guilt. Never had he seen Naruto reduced to such a state. Even when he'd found him still alive in the hospital, his friend hadn't cried with such utter heartbreak or despair. It was like Naruto's final thread of sanity had been severed.

Unable to passively watch anymore, Sasuke did the only thing he could think of. Slowly he reached his arms out and wrapped them around Naruto's trembling shoulders. He felt his friend tense and try to cringe away, as if too ashamed to let anyone touch him. But pulling him tightly against him - offering all the comfort and forgiveness he could possibly express in that simple gesture - he felt Naruto give up his struggles and collapse against him, his anguished howls echoing into the night.

"I killed all those people!" Naruto wailed, burying his face in Sasuke's shirt. "It's all my fault!"

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't kill them. It was all Kyuubi," Sasuke whispered, clutching Naruto tighter as if to physically make him believe what he was saying. "It's wasn't your fault."

"It's my fault Kyuubi got out. I should have been able to stop him," Naruto sobbed. Twisting Sasuke's shirt in between his fingers he huddled closer to the dark-haired boy, as if afraid to let go. "Please, Sasuke…" he sobbed, "please just kill me…"

Sasuke felt his blood run cold, his breath hitching in the back of his throat. "What?"

"Please, you have to kill me," Naruto cried. "I don't deserve to live. I'm nothing but a monster. I killed all those people… Please just kill me… before I hurt anyone else…"

Sasuke felt as if his world was slowly crumbling around him. His stomach felt as if it'd suddenly been filled with ice water. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on Naruto, pulling him closer. "No," he said, angrily shaking his head as unbidden tears stung his eyes. "Don't you dare talk like that. I already told you I'm not going to let you give up without a fight."

"Please…" Naruto begged, his sobs muffled by Sasuke's shirt. "Please just kill me…"

Sasuke angrily shook his head. "No… Don't ask this of me. I can't do it. I won't…"

And as he knelt there holding the shattered remains of his friend as if to physically keep Naruto from going through with his request, a single tear slipped down Sasuke's cheek and mingled with Naruto's already dampening his shirt…

To Be Continued…

I wanted some of the other main characters to actually get hurt fighting Kyuubi to heighten the seriousness of everything going on instead of it just being 'oh, some nameless, faceless Leaf ninja got hurt.' For awhile I was planning for Kyuubi to go after Lee or maybe even Neji (I thought they'd be fun punching bags for some reason), but sometime during the actually writing of the scene, it was Kakashi and Gai that took one for the team. Oh well…

Any thoughts?

Please review!


	12. Death Wish

Ok, so I thought I'd give this another try. Thanks for all the encouragement and support.

**Chapter Twelve: Death Wish**

"What!"

The darkness literally vibrated with rage. The shadows surrounding the Akatsuki leader began to twist and writhe in the air like living creatures. His eyes flashed as he glared at the other three ninja around him.

"What do you mean he killed them all?!"

Itachi seemed the only one unfazed by their leader's wrath. "I mean exactly what I just said: Kyuubi killed them. Deidara, Hidan, Tobi, Kakuzu - all of them were killed when Kyuubi broke past the Fourth's curse seal and possessed the boy."

The shadow-wreathed man sharply turned away from Itachi, Kisame, and Zetsu and began to pace, anger rolling off him in almost tangible waves. His cloud-embossed cloak swished harshly across the ground as he moved. Finally coming to a halt, he turned back towards the other three and speared them with angry, calculating eyes. "If what you say is true then Kyuubi has surpassed all our original expectations. He is even more powerful than we ever imagined."

"The ease of which he killed the others was frightening," Kisame said. "He killed them all like they were nothing but rookie gennin."

Itachi's red-tinged eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Even though he was only able to channel a fraction of his actual strength through the boy, he was still unbelievably strong. After feeling that level of chakra, I don't know if we can actually control him. He's too powerful."

"If Kyuubi is really this strong, he might be too dangerous for us to risk going after again," the white half of Zetsu's face said. "He's already killed four of our top ninja," said the other.

The shadow-clad leader stepped closer to Akatsuki's only other surviving inner members. Darkness shrouded him like an impenetrable black cloak. "No," he hissed. "We have to go after the boy one last time. But this time to kill him. Kyuubi's proven too powerful for us to control. As much as I want that fox-demon for ourselves, we cannot risk the possibility of it running loose. Even if that boy or those protecting him were able to reactivate the seal, there's no saying when it will break again and Kyuubi able to fully escape. Such a thing could prove detrimental to Akatsuki's greater plan. The boy has to be destroyed now before he posses a bigger threat."

"Kisame and I will go," Itachi said. "We'll take care of the boy."

Their leader nodded. "Take as many teams of backup agents as you need. I don't want any more mistakes. We've already lost four of our elites to that demon. I want to put an end to this once and for all. Akatsuki cannot afford any more losses. We've already spent more time, energy and resources on this boy than on all the other demon-vessels we've captured thus far combined. At this rate, Konoha or Sand might decide to take advantage of our latest failure and attack us. I want this finished _now_ before that actually happens!"

"I doubt we will need much backup," Itachi said. "Shortly after Kisame and I retreated, we felt Kyuubi's chakra signal disappear, meaning the boy is either already dead or his friends were somehow able to reseal him. Either way, it's doubtful the boy will pose us much resistance. Even before his friends rescued him he'd already begun contemplating ways to end his life. After this latest incident, it's probably safe to assume his will to live has deteriorated even more."

Their leader's eyes seemed to glow out of the inky shroud of darkness surrounding him. "I don't care how you do it, just kill that boy," he said. "And this time I don't want any more mistakes…"

* * *

"Four more teams of ANBU have been sent to help guard the compound," Shikamaru said in a hushed voice as he leaned forward to whisper to Sasuke. The lazy genius' hair was mussed and his faces streaked with dirt and dried sweat from their earlier battle with Kyuubi. He stood in the darkened hallway of the Uchiha mansion, his hands wearily shoved into his pockets. "Gaara's also sent several teams of Sand ninja to help. They're all patrolling the southern end of the compound, but it's unlikely Akatsuki will try to attack again so soon. The Hokage's taking no chances though." 

Sasuke hovered in the doorway, listening to Shikamura's report. He too looked like he'd just survived the deepest circle of hell. The Uchiha's hair was matted and tangled - a far cry from its usual elegance - and his clothes singed black in several places. A faint smell of smoke surrounded him, a lingering reminder of the fire-wielding demon he'd faced and somehow managed to survive. His body was stiffly held up straight, his shoulders squared and his face carefully schooled in a stoic expression. But that did nothing to hide the subdued aura of weariness that seemed to hang over him like an invisible cloak.

"The Hokage's asking that your family's shrine, or at least the tunnel underneath it, be destroyed so that no one else can get into the village like Akatsuki did," Shikamaru went on. "It's a danger to the village's security."

"Do whatever you have to do," Sasuke said. "I don't want anymore enemy-nin sneaking in here either. Tell the Hokage I also give her permission to have ninja search the rest of the compound for any more tunnels or secret entrances."

Shikamaru nodded, and glanced over the Uchiha's shoulder into the room behind him. His eyes bright with worry, he leaned closer to Sasuke and whispered in even a lower tone, "How's Naruto doing?"

Sasuke's entire demeanor seemed to deflate at the question. As if too weary to keep his mask of stoicism in place anymore, the boy's eyes grew distant and his shoulders slumped. Shikamaru was startled by the sudden change in the usually unreadable Uchiha.

Glancing briefly over his shoulder before looking back at Shikamaru, Sasuke shook his head. "Not well. He hasn't moved since I brought him back inside. He barely answers me when I try to talk to him and he doesn't even seem to be aware of where he is half the time. It's like he's in a state of shock."

Shikamaru nodded sadly. "I know. We all saw him after he fought Kyuubi back…"

"Has there been any word on Kakashi, Gai, or Jiraiya yet?" Sasuke asked.

Shikamaru sighed and scuffed his foot against the ground. "The Hokage said Jiraiya should make it. Sakura managed to stop the worst of the bleeding until medical teams could arrive, but I'm not so sure about Kakashi or Gai. They were both taken to the hospital, but are still in surgery as far as I know. Lee went with Gai to the hospital and sent a message not long ago to Neji and Tenten. He said the doctors are doing everything they can but they're only giving Gai a twenty-five percent chance of survival right now. The entire front of his body was burned where Kyuubi's tail hit him. I don't think Kakashi's doing that well either. He's been in surgery for at least two hours now. Sakura went with Tsunade to the hospital to help, but by the way both of them were acting I'm not so sure either Kakashi or Gai are going to make it…"

Sasuke hung his head, a curtain of tangled black bangs swinging forward to partially hide his face. "Damn it," he swore. Looking back up he speared Shikamaru with a steel-hard glare. "We can't let Naruto know about this or let anyone else tell him," he said. "He won't be able to handle it. He already blames himself for killing those Akatsuki ninja and everything else that happened. Until we hear more from the hospital or know something definite, don't tell him anything. He'll completely lose it if he hears that now."

"He knows none of us blame him, right?" Shikamaru said. "We'd never blame him for what happened. None of this was his fault. Even Lee doesn't blame him for what happened to Gai. The others are waiting in the other part of the house. They sent me to ask you if we could see him. We're worried about him."

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder into the room again, his eyes shadowed and tired. "I'll have to ask him, but I doubt it. He's not dealing with everything very well right now. I'm not sure he'll want anyone to see him."

Shikamaru nodded slowly. "Alright… Just tell him we're still here for him. We're not going to abandon him."

Sasuke gave a curt nod of understanding. "I'll let you know what he says, but don't expect much." He began to turn away to go back in the room but was stopped by Shikamaru calling after him.

"You're the only one that can help him now, Sasuke," the lazy genius murmured, his eyes shining with a profound look of understanding in the moonlit that spilled past Sasuke into the hallway. "We all realized it when he regained control of his body. You're the only one he trusts. He wouldn't let anyone but you touch him or even come close. We're all trusting you to bring the Naruto we used to know back." Then, saying nothing else, Shikamaru turned, his hands still shoved in his pockets, and walked away - probably back to the main part of the house to wait with everyone else for their friend's reply.

Sasuke silently stared after him a moment before slowly turning back into the room and pulling the sliding-door close behind him.

The room was completely dark except for the silvery cast of moonlit filtering through the shoji doors on the other side of the room. Naruto's futon lay in the middle of the room, empty. But Sasuke was unperturbed. Calmly turning to the far corner of the room - right where Jiraiya had been sitting less than a few hours before - Sasuke approached his friend's huddled form.

Naruto sat with his back pressed against the wall, his knees pulled up to his chest, and his arms wrapped around both legs. His forehead was bent down onto his knees, hiding his face from view. His entire body language practically screamed misery and guilt. He hadn't moved from that position since Sasuke helped him back into the mansion from the chakra-scorched courtyard; nor let anyone but the alienated Uchiha near him since forcing Kyuubi back into his prison.

Sasuke carefully approached Naruto and sat down beside him on the tatami mats.

Naruto didn't move or even seem to acknowledge the other boy's presence.

Sasuke just sat there a moment and quietly studied his friend out of the corner of his eye. Even in the moonlight, he could see the raw patches of skin covering Naruto's hands and forearms. After leading his sobbing friend back into the mansion away from the staring eyes of others, Naruto had frantically tried to wash his hands of the blood and bits of fleshy viscera from his hands and beneath his finger nails. Sasuke had had to physically restrain the blond before he could scrub his own skin off. It had then taken him over an hour to fully calm the hysterical demon-vessel down. But instead of allowing Sasuke any opening then to comfort him, Naruto had instead shut down and become disturbingly quiet and withdrawn. He barely reacted when Sasuke spoke to him, or to anything else around him for that matter. Nothing Sasuke did seemed able to break through the other boy's almost tangible aura of guilt.

But that didn't mean he was about to give up just yet…

"Naruto," Sasuke murmured, finally shattering the intense silence of the room, "your other friends are asking about you. They want to see you. Do you want me to let them in?"

To Sasuke's ultimate surprise, he actual got a response. He saw the muscles in Naruto's shoulders tense and the blond shift where he sat in a half-curled ball.

"No," came a muffled reply from behind the shaggy mess of bangs resting on Naruto's knees. "It's too dangerous. I already hurt Gai and Kakashi-sensei. I don't want to hurt any more people…"

Sasuke sighed and leaned back against the wall beside Naruto. "You're not going to hurt anyone, Naruto," he said, a note of exasperation entering his voice. "We all know that wasn't you that did those things. It was all Kyuubi, and he's been resealed. No one blames you for what happened. Shikamaru told me himself. Your other friends want to see you. They're worried about you. Can't you see you're not doing yourself any good sitting here like this? There are people who want to help you if you'd only let them."

There was a long moment of silence from the blond. Then: "You really want to help me, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, finally lifting his head off his knees to look at Sasuke with empty, red-rimmed eyes. "Then why won't you just do what I asked and kill me?"

Sasuke stared at his friend, an icy feeling curdling the bottom of his stomach. "I already told you, Naruto, I'm not going to kill you. I'm not going to let you give up that easily."

"I'm not giving up" Naruto said. "I'm just doing what's best for everyone. I'm a danger to everyone in this village. I don't want to hurt any more people. All I hear is Kyuubi clawing at the back of my mind. I'm just so tired of hearing him… Why can't you see this is for the best, and just do me this one last favor?"

"Because I'm your friend and don't want to see you kill yourself for some stupid, suicidal ideal," Sasuke shot back. "I know you're strong enough to fight Kyuubi. I know you can get stronger and push him far enough away so that you don't have to hear him anymore. You just have to get it in your mind that you can do it. I know you're strong enough."

Naruto snorted under his breath. "When we were still a team you never once thought of me as an equal. I was always just the brainless idiot. And now, when all I want to do is admit you were right and stop fighting a hopeless battle, you go and say you think I'm strong enough to fight one of the most powerful demons in the world. Gods, make up your mind, Sasuke."

The dark haired boy stared at Naruto, taken aback. Never had he heard such bitterness come out of the blond's mouth before.

"Cynicism doesn't suit you, Naruto."

Another laden pause from the blond. "After everything I've been through, there's nothing really left for me…" he softly murmured.

Naruto's eyes dimmed, and he emptily looked back at the floor. To Sasuke, they looked just like the eyes of a living corpse.

"Can you please tell everyone I can't see them right now?" Naruto murmured, hanging his head so his bangs partially hid his face. "It's not that I don't want to see them. It's just that… I can't. Tell them I'm sorry, but I just can't…" His voice trailed off in a waver, as if fighting back a sob. "Please Sasuke," he murmured. "If you can't do anything else for me, can you please just do this? It's all I'm asking for…"

Sasuke sat there, his heart shattering at the utter hopelessness in his friend's voice. Was that really all he could do to help his friend? Wasn't there anything else he could do besides play messenger boy to make that emptiness in his friend's voice go away? Was that really all he was capable of?

"I'll go tell them, Naruto," he said - unable to find any answers for his own frustrated questions - and stood. His throat was tight as he began to head for the door, anger and helplessness stewing inside him like a noxious bile. He hated this. He hated this feeling of helplessness. Wasn't there _anything_ he could do to help his friend?

Coming to the door, Sasuke paused and glanced back over his shoulder into the room. Naruto still sat exactly where he'd left him - hunched over in a tiny ball against the wall with his face buried between his knees. He looked so wretched and alone, for a moment Sasuke contemplated going back inside and comforting his broken friend.

But forcing himself to turn away from the painful sight, Sasuke stepped through the door and into the darkened hall beyond. If this was truly all he could do to help his friend, then that was what he would do. If he couldn't fulfill any other request of Naruto's, he could at least do this.

As he navigated the confusing maze of halls and passageways that led back to the main section of the mansion, Sasuke's mind wandered.

When had it come to this, he wondered. When had he lost control to do anything to pull his friend back from the brink of despair? He'd always prided himself with being in control of situations - of knowing exactly what to do or how to act. But now, when he was needed the most he had no idea what to do. Naruto's will to fight was gone - completely evaporated in the wake of Kyuubi's possession. He no longer wanted to live and had even asked Sasuke to deliver the final blow.

How could Naruto ask that of him? Didn't he know he could never raise a hand to the blond? Didn't he know he was the only one that kept him sane in this miserable world? Before Naruto had come back from training and after his supposed death he'd had nothing to live for. He'd all but given up the will to live himself. And now, when he finally had his friend back - the only person he'd ever felt any sort of connection to since his family's massacre - Naruto wanted to leave him alone again. And this time forever.

Unbidden tears stung the corners of the boy's eyes. Pausing in the middle of the hallway, Sasuke scrubbed the back of his hand across his eyes, struggling for control over his own treacherous emotions.

Why was Naruto doing this? Didn't he know he was willing to die to keep anyone from hurting him again? Didn't he know how much he would be missed if he went through with what he wanted to do? And not just by himself, but by everyone else as well?

Unlike Sasuke, who if he were to die, no one would care. But Naruto… Naruto had always been the life and laughter of Konoha. All those that knew him loved him. That much was apparent after Akatsuki had faked his death. To lose Naruto again - and this time for sure - would be like extinguishing the brightest star in the heavens, robbing everyone of that shining beacon of light. And Sasuke couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't. Naruto was his only friend - his only remaining tie to human emotions beside loneliness and despair. If he were to lose Naruto again, he had no illusion he wouldn't be able to go on anymore. He'd already lost so many precious people through the years. Naruto was his last remaining one. He couldn't stand the thought of losing him too. It was just too painful.

But now Naruto was pushing everyone - including himself - away. It was like he was systematically cutting off all personal ties to people to somehow make his passing easier for them to bare.

Despite himself, Sasuke snorted under his breath, frustrated by the predictably selfless sense of duty Naruto lived by. The stupid idiot was willing to throw his life away just on the pretense he might somehow be a danger to those around him. It was so foolishly noble like Naruto to do something like that it almost made Sasuke sick. Did he ever have a hope of someday knocking some sense into that numbskull's head?

If only he could make Naruto believe him. He wasn't going to let Naruto give up so easily. If only his friend wasn't so hell-bent on trying to protect everyone else but himself he might realize Sasuke wasn't about to let him do anything to hurt himself…

Sasuke's thoughts trailed off, a sudden thought freezing his blood.

He had no idea what brought the frightening premonition on, but after years of being a ninja he'd learn to listen to his instincts. It was what had kept him and his fellow teammates alive on more than one dangerous mission.

And right now his instincts were screaming at him to get back to Naruto's room. _Now._

Spinning on his heels, Sasuke took off down the hall, his feet eating up the distance. Sasuke's heart pounded against his ribcage as he sped through the darkened hallways, dread rising in the back of his throat like acidic bile.

_No… Why didn't I see what he was trying to do sooner? Why did I let my emotions blind me to what he was actually doing?_

Coming to the door of Naruto's room, Sasuke flung the it open and looked inside.

Just as he expected, the room was completely empty. One of the shoji doors on the far side of the room was slid open, leading outside into one of the mansion's inner courtyards. Moonlight streamed in through the doorway, illuminating a patch of tatami mat in a brilliant wash of silver.

Swallowing down his panic, Sasuke turned and raced back the way he'd just come - back towards the main part of the house. He had to go alert the other Rookies and everyone else. Naruto was gone - probably on some last-ditch suicide attempt to protect those he cared for. They had to find him. Before the dumb blond could do anything stupid and hurt himself.

_I swear, Naruto, if you're still alive when I find you I'm going to kill you myself,_ Sasuke swore as he sped through the empty mansion.

But that did nothing to stop the wave of sickening dread from rising in the back of his throat…

* * *

The world was nothing but a darkened kaleidoscope of shadows, trees and shifting moonlight. His breath was coming in harsh, raspy gasps. He could feel sweat dripping down the sides of his face and soaking the neckline of his shirt. His entire body ached, screaming with misery as he delved ever deeper into the forest. But somehow he forced himself to keep going. 

Naruto moved in a stumbling lope, struggling to keep his legs under him and moving. His body trembled with exhaustion. He had to steady himself against each new tree trunk he passed to keep from collapsing. He knew he wasn't going to last much longer. Kyuubi might have healed the burns and bruises covering his body when he'd possessed him, but even Kyuubi's healing abilities couldn't completely heal the damage several months of starvation and torture had done to his deteriorating body. It was only a matter of time now before he dropped from exhaustion. And he couldn't let that happen. Not yet. Not until he was far enough away from Konoha and everyone he might unintentionally harm if his curse seal should break again.

Naruto knew he had precious little time before the others noticed his absence and came after him. And probably with Sasuke in the lead.

Naruto forced more effort into his shaking legs, struggling to put more distance between himself and those he couldn't stand the thought of harming anymore. He knew his friends would probably be worried and upset when they found out he was gone, but it was for the best. He couldn't let Kyuubi hurt anyone else he cared for. He'd already hurt Kakashi and Gai-sensei, and even Jiraiya had almost been killed trying to protect him. It was all his fault. What if next time he hurt someone else? What if the next time Kyuubi got out he hurt one of his friends or, worse yet, Sasuke?

Naruto shook his head, trying to dispel that frightening image from his mind. No. He couldn't let that happen. He had to protect his friends. He didn't trust himself to be able to fight back Kyuubi again. The fox was getting too strong. Even now, he could hear the demon gnashing at the bars holding him captive in the back of his mind. His friends might have been able to help reseal Kyuubi, but for how long?

Sasuke didn't understand what he was up against. He knew Sasuke was serious when he'd said he'd do anything to help protect him, but could he really risk endangering the other boy's life anymore? Sasuke had already done so much for him; even if he hadn't been able to fulfill his request to help put an end to his misery. Maybe it was actually better this way. Now Sasuke wouldn't have to live the rest of his life blaming himself for his death. The other boy didn't deserve that kind of guilt. No, he should have never asked Sasuke to do what only he should have been responsible for. Kyuubi was his curse, his responsibility to deal with. He shouldn't have asked his friend to do anything more than what he already had. He already owed Sasuke too much to pull him any deeper into his own problems…

The lights of Konoha were beginning to fade from view, disappearing behind the thick foliage of the trees. He had to be nearing the village's outer defenses by now. It wouldn't be long before he was out of Konoha's immediate vicinity and in the open wilderness. The tunnel below the Uchiha shrine had let him out much deeper in the forest on the eastern side of the village than he'd originally expected. He just hoped Sasuke didn't come back too soon and find him missing, or think of following him through the tunnel. He had to try and put as much distance between himself and the village as he could before his friends tried coming after him. He had to put an end to all of this before they could stop him…

Pausing to catch his breath, Naruto half-collapsed against the nearest tree and rested his forehead against the scratchy bark. He didn't know how much farther he could go. He was so tired. All he wanted to do was just lay down and sleep and never have to think about waking up again. His whole body hurt so much. Would it hurt when he died, he wondered. It certainly couldn't hurt as much as when Kyuubi tried to possess him. Nothing could compare to that kind of pain.

Naruto could imagine it now: a momentary flash of pain, the feeling of fading away from the world, and then… nothing. If death offered him nothing more than an empty sea of darkness to spend the rest of eternity in, it would be enough. No. It would be more than enough. It would be paradise. All he wanted was an escape from this endless cycle of hopelessness and pain. Any place that offered him an escape from that could surely be considered heaven.

He still remembered the place Jiraiya had taken him all those years ago to try and teach him how to call on Kyuubi's chakra. He still remembered that bottomless gorge with it's water-polished sides. Only this time he had no intention of summoning Gamabunta to save him. This time he'd let himself fall, and let the ground rush up to claim him…

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Naruto heard the rattle of metal bars and distant echo of a demonic howl. As he listened, the gnashing began to grow in volume until it was all he could hear. Visions of flames and heat-shattered bones appeared in his mind's eye, followed by those of salivating fangs and blood-soaked claws.

The boy desperately closed his eyes and covered his ears, trying to block out the horrible images and sounds. But to no avail.

Kyuubi's angry howls seemed endless. Naruto could almost imagine the fox-demon throwing himself at the barred gates of the Fourth's prison, gnashing his teeth in mindless rage as he tried to break past the curse seal pasted there.

Choking back his tears, Naruto pushed himself away from the tree with a strangled cry and took off in a stumbling run. He had to get to the gorge. He had to end this. Kyuubi just kept getting louder and louder! He couldn't stand it anymore! If he could just make it to the gorge, he could finally put an end to all his suffering and finally make that fox-demon go away!

Naruto blindly wove his way through the maze of shadow-draped trees, desperate to reach his final destination. His breath began to come in shorter and shorter gasps. His heart hammered madly against the inside of his chest. It was getting harder to keep his feet under him as he tried to outrun the demonic howls ringing in his ears. His sides began to cramp. His legs began to sting. His body screamed in pain.

But he forced himself to keep going. He couldn't give up now. He had to make it to that gorge. He had to put an end this once and for all…

Suddenly, the trees parted to reveal a small clearing. Naruto stumbled into it, barely even aware of where he was going - only that it was towards his final hope of escape. The moon hung high in the sky overhead, bathing the clearing in silvery-blue light. Naruto - still trying to block out the sounds of Kyuubi's wrath - could barely see anymore. All he could see were images of death and destruction and hear the fox-demon's thundering howls of rage.

So it was only when Naruto felt his foot suddenly catch on a root laying half hidden in the grass and was sent crashing face first onto the ground, that the boy was broken out of his horrified trance.

Gathering his waning strength, Naruto frantically tried to push himself back off the ground to continue his fateful journey. But his body seemed unwilling to respond to his calls anymore. His arms shook as he uselessly strained to stand. But it was no good. He was just too weak. He had no more strength. His body was at the end of its limits. He was so weak he could barely even lift his chest up off the ground.

"No!" Naruto wailed, finally giving up and collapsing back down onto the grass. Tears leaked down his cheeks and into the dirt. "No, no, no, no, no!"

Laying there - too defeated and weak to even raise his head - Naruto let his frustration overtake him in the form of ragged sobs. Now what was he suppose to do? How was he suppose to make the pain stop or make Kyuubi's voice go away now? Why couldn't anything just work out the way it was suppose to for him? What'd he ever do to deserve this? Why was it always him that had to suffer?

Naruto didn't know how long he lay there, letting his pitiful sobs echo into the night. But as the moon climbed ever higher into the sky on its heavenly track, a sudden rustle off to the side startled Naruto back to the presence. Turning his head towards the sound, he saw two figures slowly materialize out of the surrounding shadows of the forest and step into the clearing. Each wore long black cloaks with red embossed clouds. Without even looking at their faces Naruto knew their identities. But strangely, he felt no pulse of fear course through him at Itachi and Kisame's appearance.

"You guys came back a lot quicker than I thought you would…" he murmured, weakly pushing himself off the ground enough to kneel and face the two Akatsuki. "I thought you would have learned by now to stay away from me…"

"You are too dangerous to be left alive, Naruto Uzumaki," Itachi said. His red eyes glowed eerily in the moonlight. "The nine-tailed fox demon is too powerful for even us to control. You must be destroyed before it can break loose again."

Naruto nodded. He'd suspected as much. After killing several of their members, he'd had no doubt Akatsuki would try to come after him at least one more time. And this time to finish him off once and for all.

Itachi took a step closer. The long, grating hiss of sharpened steel being drawn sounded, followed by a flash of moonlight reflected off the blade of the older Uchiha's sword.

Naruto didn't move as Itachi advanced on him, his sword drawn and gleaming in the moonlight.

"There will be no more games, Uzumaki," Itachi said, finally coming to a stop in front of him and leveling his sword at the kneeling boy's neck. "This ends here and now…"

Naruto didn't move or even cringe away. He just calmly knelt there and stared up into the older Uchiha's eyes. Then with a trembling sigh of relief, Naruto smiled in gratitude.

"Thank you…" he whispered, and willingly bared his neck to Itachi's blade.

_Finally_, he thought as he closed his eyes and waited for the final blow to fall. _Finally now I can rest…_

To Be Continued…

(_sigh_) Only Naruto would ever try to do something so sickeningly noble. He's such a selfless little hero. But I think that's one of the reasons why I like him so much…

Any thoughts?

Please review!


	13. Final Showdown

I would apologize for the time it took to get this latest chapter out, but Life's been too cruel to even let me _think_ about writing lately. This chapter is _extremely_ long, and I apologize but it just couldn't be helped.

Oh, and I took some artistic licensing for some things this chapter...

**Chapter Thirteen: Final Showdown**

Sasuke crashed through the shadowy foliage of the trees, not even bothering to try and mask his presence with stealth. He could focus on nothing but the throat-tightening swell of panic churning inside him. What was Naruto thinking sneaking off like that? What was he hoping to accomplish? Didn't he know throwing his life away wasn't going to solve anything? The stupid idiot! He didn't care how sick the other boy was, whenever he found him he was going to physically beat some sense into that numbskull's head and then drag him back to Konoha by the scruff of his neck.

It hadn't taken long to alert the other rookies of Naruto's disappearance and form small search parties. Shikamaru had gone to check with teams guarding other areas of the compound, but none of them had seen the boy and there was no sign of Naruto anywhere else in the area.

How was that possible? How could a half-dead boy barely strong enough to walk sneak past several teams of highly trained ninja guarding every entrance to the compound? It just didn't make any sense!

Naruto might have outgrown some of his clumsiness and learned a little bit more on the subtle art of stealth since becoming a gennin all those years ago, but there was no way Naruto could have gotten that good. Especially not in the state he was in.

And then it had hit Sasuke like a punch to the gut. The tunnel Akatsuki had used to get into Konoha. That was the only answer. That was the only way Naruto could have gotten out without anyone noticing him. The shrine was only a short distance away from that part of the mansion, and it was far enough inside the compound that patrolling teams could have missed him going inside.

Sasuke cursed himself as he delved deeper into the forest, following the trail of his illusive friend. He was such a fool. He should have thought of Naruto using that tunnel to slip away earlier. Naruto had to have at least a thirty minute head start on them now. There was no saying how far Naruto had gotten, or what he was planning to do. They had to find him as fast as they could and bring him back. If not from Akatsuki, then he had to protect the idiot from himself.

Sasuke desperately scanned the forest beneath him as he leapt from branch to branch. Naruto's trail had faded some time ago and it was getting harder to see. The lights of Konoha had all but disappeared behind the thick cover of trees. The only thing to shed any light was the faintest hint of moonlight filtering through the leaves. Sasuke was sure he had to be at least two miles outside of the village's eastern wall by now. The forest was unnervingly quiet. He'd lost track the others that had followed him through the tunnel. As far as he knew Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, Neji and the others were all searching other areas of the forest.

_Where are you, Naruto?_ he wondered as he paused on the edge of a branch and scanned the ground below. He stretched out his senses to try and detect any hint of the other boy's chakra signal, but could feel nothing. It wasn't too surprising though. Gai and Kakashi's Five Point Seal had closed off almost all of Naruto's chakra lines. He would have been surprised if Naruto could manipulate enough chakra now to even perform a simple first year academy jutsu.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Sasuke sped on.

How far did Naruto get? Even with such a lead, he couldn't have gotten that far. The boy was at the end of limits - both mentally and physically. There was no way he could have made it this far.

For a moment Sasuke considered doubling back and covering another section of forest. He had to hurry and find the other boy. There was no saying what Naruto was planning to do. Where could he possibly be heading? There was nothing but forest and open wildness for miles around in this direction. The next closest village was Sand, and that was more than three days' journey away on foot. Gaara was still in Konoha from Sand and Leaf's joint attack on Akatsuki several days before, so Naruto couldn't be going to see him. Plus, it was doubtful he would be trying to head for another village. He was already afraid of his curse seal breaking again and him hurting other people, so it was unlikely he'd risk going near another place that had a large population.

So then where was he heading? There was nowhere out here for him to go.

Unless…

Unless he wasn't trying to actually get anywhere at all...

Sasuke unconsciously quickened his pace, his heart hammering against the inside of his ribs. He had to find the idiot. The boy was out of his mind with guilt right now. He wasn't thinking straight. Sasuke just hoped he wasn't too late to stop his friend from doing anything stupid. Because if he was-

Sasuke abruptly cut that line of thought off. He didn't want to even consider that horrible possibility. He'd already experienced the pain of losing his friend once, and couldn't stand the thought of going through it again. He knew he wouldn't be able to survive it. The memory of Naruto's blood staining his hands still haunted his dreams like a nightmare he could never fully wake up from. He couldn't let that happen again.

He wouldn't.

Suddenly, up ahead through the trees, Sasuke saw a clearing. Moonlight bathed the area in ghostly blue light. On instinct, Sasuke veered towards it. For some reason it seemed like a place Naruto might go. Maybe he could pick up his trail again from there.

As Sasuke darted through the shadowy foliage, weaving his way through the dense branches, the trees suddenly parted to give him a clear view of the clearing -

And Sasuke felt his heart freeze.

There, standing in the middle of the clearing, were two dark figures dressed in Akatsuki robes. Their backs were to him; one of them, his sword drawn. A third figure was there, kneeling on the ground several paces in front of them in a crumbled heap.

As Sasuke watched, the Akatsuki ninja with the sword stepped towards the third figure, the blade of his katana flashing in the moonlight. The defeated figure slowly raised his head to watch the other's approach. Moonlight spilled over his haggard features like liquid quicksilver, and Sasuke once again felt his chest constrict with dread.

_Naruto…_

Just as he'd already begun to suspect even before he'd seen the other's face, the third person was none other than his missing teammate and friend. Sasuke also had little doubts now as to who the two Akatsuki ninja with him were. He had no idea why his estranged brother and partner were still so close to Konoha, but knew it couldn't bode well for the boy kneeling before them.

Naruto seemed detached from the situation even as Itachi stepped up to him and leveled his sword at the blond's chest. The boy slowly looked up at Itachi. Sasuke saw Naruto's lips quiver, as if whispering something only the older Uchiha could hear. Then, closing his eyes, Naruto tilted his head back to expose his neck to the missing Leaf-nin's blade, and smiled.

Sasuke felt his blood run cold. Pushing more effort into his already stinging leg muscles, the panicked shinobi struggled to cover the last few yards still separating him from the clearing.

Itachi had already begun to draw his sword back over his shoulder, ready to deliver the final blow. Naruto calmly knelt there, not moving or even trying to get away. His eyes were closed, his features soft and almost peaceful in the moonlight. It was almost like he welcomed the release Itachi's sword was prepared to offer him.

But before Itachi could bring his sword down on the helpless boy, Sasuke finally reached the edge of the clearing and propelled himself off the final branch out of the tree cover into open air. Sailing airborne, he whipped several shuriken from his ninja pouch and sent them flying at his older brother.

"Get away from him, you bastard!" he screamed.

Itachi whirled around at the sound of his voice, his Sharingan spinning. His brother's eyes narrowed. Then moving faster than Sasuke could track, Itachi twisted away from Naruto and back-sprung to the side just as a hail of shuriken peppered the ground right where he'd been standing only half a second before.

Sasuke hit the ground and skid to a halt in front of his kneeling friend. Whipping a kunai from his leg holster, he spun to face the two Akatsuki. His lips were pulled back from his teeth in a fearsome snarl, every muscle in his body as tense as a drawn bow string. He moved so that he stood directly in front of Naruto and sunk into a low battle stance to shield the other boy with his body.

"You bastards come any closer, I'll tear you both to pieces," he snarled. His vision swam red, and not just from his activated bloodline trait. Panic, fear, anger, and adrenaline pulsed through his veins so strongly it was almost painful.

"Sasuke," Naruto's startled voice rasped behind him.

His eyes never straying from his older brother or sword-wielding partner, Sasuke shouted back over his shoulder, "Run, Naruto! I'll hold them back. Shikamaru, Neji, and the others should be nearby. Find them and have them take you back to the village. You'll be safe there."

"No. I can't…"

"They're not far," Sasuke insisted, desperate to get his friend moving and away from Itachi and Kisame. His kunai remained expertly trained on the two. "Just run for it! I'll hold them off. You can make it. Go!"

"No, Sasuke," Naruto said, shaking his head. "It's no use. Just let them do what they came to do. It's what I want…"

Momentarily forgetting about his brother and partner, Sasuke spun halfway around towards Naruto, his blood running cold. "What?"

"Please, Sasuke," Naruto said as he stared up at him as if pleading him to somehow understand. "I'm too dangerous to be left alive. I've already hurt so many people. I don't want to hurt anyone else. Kyuubi's getting so strong. I can't fight him anymore. They can stop Kyuubi once and for all." Naruto desperately stared at Sasuke, the moonlight illuminating the unshed tears in the corners of his eyes. "Please, Sasuke," he whispered, "they can make the pain go away…"

Staring into his friend's pain-filled eyes, Sasuke felt his throat constrict, and for a moment he could barely breath. The misery in Naruto's voice was almost tangible. He felt as if his heart was about to break. How could so much pain be expressed in so few words? Naruto's eyes seemed to stare straight down into him. The suffering in them was almost unbearable to look at. It was like Naruto was somehow trying to give him a glimpse of the suffering that had become his life.

"Naruto…" Sasuke whispered, struggling to keep his voice from breaking as he stared into his friend's empty blue eyes. "Please don't do this…"

"You're being selfish, little brother," Itachi's voice suddenly said from the other side of the clearing. "You should listen to what your friend has to say."

Sasuke angrily whipped back around and glared at his brother. His snarl was once again in place and kunai threateningly held out towards his older brother. "You stay away from him, Itachi," he hissed. "I'm not going to let you hurt him anymore."

Itachi slowly took a step towards him. "Can't you see how much pain he's in?" he said. "Can't you see how much he's suffering? Why won't you let him go? You say you're his friend, yet you continue to make him stay here and suffer. Don't you care about what he wants? You're being so selfish keeping him alive like this. It's almost cruel."

"Shut up!" Sasuke screamed. He was gripping his kunai so tightly, he was probably going to have indentations from the handgrip in his palm when he let go. His entire body shook with barely contained rage. He could barely keep the tip of his kunai properly trained on his brother anymore his hand shook so badly. "Don't you dare talk about how much suffering he's in when it's _you _that did this to him!"

Itachi shook his head in mock disappointment. "You're so narrow minded, little brother," he sighed. "We never wanted to keep your friend alive for so long. He was suppose to die the first time we did the Seal Breaking ceremony. His suffering would have been over a long time ago if he'd just stopped trying to fight us. And now, when we're here to put an end to this entire mess and put your little friend out of his misery, you refuse to let him go. Tell me, brother, have you really become that selfish that you'd continue to make him suffer just for your own needs?"

"Only because you've taken everyone else I've ever cared about away from me!" There were tears now in Sasuke's eyes - both from anger and unforgotten loneliness and pain. His lower lip began to tremble. "I refuse to let him go because he's the only person I have left! If that makes me selfish, then so be it! But I'm not going to let you take Naruto away from me too! I'm not going to let him give up that easily!"

"Sasuke…" Naruto's voice trembled behind him.

The dark haired boy looked behind him again to find Naruto staring at him in utter anguish. There were tears in the blond's eyes. As he watched, a single tear slipped from Naruto's eye and flashed down the side of his face. "Sasuke, I'm sorry," he whispered. Hanging his head, Naruto hid his face behind a fringe of overgrown bangs. "I'm so sorry… I never wanted to make you this upset. I'm just so tired… I'm so tired of hearing Kyuubi all the time in the back of my head. He won't ever be quiet or go away. I just can't take it anymore…"

"Do you hear him, Sasuke?" Itachi intoned from the other side of the clearing. He was eyeing them like a predator waiting for its injured prey to stop thrashing and lay still so it could move in for the final kill. "Do you hear how he wants you to stop making him suffer like this?"

"Shut up, you bastard!" Sasuke screamed as he wheeled back around towards his brother, his kunai shaking in his fist. He felt like he'd just become the center of some kind of tug of war with Naruto and Itachi both trying to pull him in directions he had no desire to go.

"Sasuke, please," Naruto murmured, pleadingly staring at the dark haired boy's back. "I don't know when Kyuubi'll try to get out again. I don't know if I'll be able to stop him a second time. Please, Sasuke, just let me do this. Let me go. I don't want to hurt you if Kyuubi gets out again. Please… it's for the best…"

"Be quiet, idiot! You don't know what you're talking about! I already told you I'm not going to let you give up that easily. I don't care what you think, you're going to pull yourself together and fight! I know you can do it!" Sinking into a low fighting stance, he then turned back towards the two Akatsuki, his kunai challengingly held out in front of him as if daring them to try and come any closer to him or his friend.

"It doesn't look like your brother's going to let the boy go without a fight, Itachi," Kisame said. He stared at Sasuke with growing annoyance. "Let me take care of him. We're only wasting time playing games like this. Just let me finish him off so we can kill the demon-vessel and leave."

"Fine," Itachi sniffed. "I don't think my little brother would have given me much of a worthwhile fight anyway."

Sasuke grit his teeth and dug his heels into the ground as Kisame unhooked his overlarge sword from his back and stepped forward to face him.

Naruto frantically looked between his teammate and the shark-faced Akatsuki. "No!" he cried, struggling to rise to his feet. "Leave Sasuke out of this! Just kill me and let him go! There's no reason for you to hurt him too!"

"Maybe if he hadn't come out here looking for you," Itachi replied, "but since he's so bound and determined to throw his life away, then we have no choice but to honor his wishes."

Naruto looked horror-stricken, as if he were seconds away from being physically ill.

"Naruto, run and find the others!" Sasuke yelled, still warily eyeing the missing Mist-nin. "They'll take you back to the village. I'll hold these two back long enough for you to get away!"

"No!" the other shinobi wailed, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "I'm not going to leave you here just to get killed! I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me!"

"I'm not going to die that easily," Sasuke yelled. "Just run for it! I can take care of myself."

But Naruto just shook his head, refusing to move.

Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration. Why did Naruto have to chose now of all times to be so annoyingly stubborn? But then again, what was he to expect when it was partially because of Naruto's stubbornness to listen that they were out here in the first place?

Kisame stepped towards them, his pointed teeth bared in a wicked grin. With a sharp flick of the wrist, the cloth wrapping of his gigantic sword came loose and unraveled to the ground like the shed skin of some giant snake. The blue, scaly texture of the sword's "blade" glittered in the moonlight. Sasuke warily eyed the unusual weapon. He'd overheard other jounin in the village talking about it once - namely Asuma who'd once had a run-in with the missing Mist-nin and his estranged older brother - and how its blade was used to literally _shred_ its opponent's flesh instead of cleanly slice like a normal blade. He'd also heard of the sword's strange ability to absorb chakra. He was going to have to be careful. Especially with Naruto so close…

"I do hope you'll give me at least a little bit of a fight," Kisame said with a grin. "It's been awhile since I've been able to put Samehada to good use."

Sasuke grit his teeth and carefully stepped away from Naruto to give himself more room. His kunai remained poised in a wary guard in front of his chest. "I'm not letting you anywhere near my friend," he said with a dangerous growl. "You'll have to kill me before I let you near him."

Kisame's toothy grin widened. "How amusing. Because that was exactly what I was planning to do." Then, moving faster than Sasuke expected, the shark-man whipped his sword back over his shoulder like a giant baseball bat. Then swinging it back around, a wall of water suddenly appeared as if it'd been conjured from the very air itself by the gigantic blade, and sped towards Sasuke like a destructive tsunami.

The wave slammed into him with the force of a battering ram, sending him flying backwards off his feet. He hit the ground hard, water pooling and eddying around him. As he coughed and sputtered and hurriedly struggled to get back to his feet, the water seeped back into the ground and disappeared, almost as it'd never even been there at all.

A bit shaken by this unexpected jutsu, the tomoe spokes ringing Sasuke's Sharingan whirled as he spun back towards his opponent. How'd he do that? He didn't even see him use any hand seals. He'd also never heard of anyone being able to summon water like that out of thin air. It just wasn't possible…

"I can see you're surprised," Kisame noted with a smug look. "In the land of Mist, my people have learned a number of water-based jutsu you Fire-ninja have never even dreamed of. I'll just say that anywhere I can summon water instantly becomes my ideal battle ground. And I can summon water _anywhere_…"

Sasuke twirled the kunai in his hand around so that his thumb and forefingers were free, and sent his hands flying into a complex series of hand seals. Chakra crackled the air around him, and he felt the earth beneath him violently shift. Rocky protrusions shot up out of the ground towards Kisame. The entire side of the clearing the two Akatsuki ninja stood suddenly seemed to uproot itself and flip over, as if the earth was convulsing and trying to turn itself inside out.

"If Water is your strongest element, then that just means I have to defeat you using Earth!" Sasuke yelled over the thunderous roar of rock and dirt.

For a moment, Sasuke lost sight of Kisame and Itachi behind the sections of up-heaved land. Clouds of billowing dust filled the air and hung over the area like a thick blanket. Sasuke stood in a tense ready-stance, his Sharingan cautiously scanning the area. He knew he couldn't count on a single jutsu - even one as destructive and powerful as the one he'd just used - to be able to finish off his friend's would-be assassins that easily. Itachi and his partner were too vindictive to just quietly die and leave the rest of them in peace.

As if in confirmation of his suspicion, two dark figures suddenly shot up out of the shifting cloud of dust and perched themselves on two rocky protrusions sticking out of the torn up ground like geological fingers pointed at the night sky. They stared down at him from the height like two black carrion birds of death. Sasuke was dismayed to note that neither of them appeared to even have a scratch.

"I must admit, little brother, that was quite impressive," Itachi's voice rang out. "When did you learn such an interesting jutsu?"

"When I was training to kill you!" Sasuke snarled.

The mocking chortle of Itachi's laughter echoed across the clearing.

"Unfortunately, I won't get the opportunity to see any more of those jutsu you learned since Kisame's already asked to have the pleasure of killing you. For me to finish you off, I fear, would only be a waste of my time and skill."

Sasuke snarled, a venomous retort poised on the tip of his tongue to spit at the living epitome of all his hatred and revenge. But he never got a chance to speak those words; for just then, Kisame took the opportunity to attack.

Like a black blur, he leapt from his rocky perch down onto Sasuke, his sword hoisted over his head with both hands as if to cleave the boy straight down the middle from head to toe.

Sasuke dove to the side, just barely missing the deadly blade. He rolled on his shoulder across the ground and nimbly sprung back to his feet. He spun around just in time to parry Kisame's sword away from him with his kunai before it could shred his stomach open like a giant cheese grater. The bones all the way up the length of his arm vibrated with the force of the shark-man's swing.

Unable to push back the attack, Sasuke twisted away and back-sprung several paces to put some distance between himself and his opponent. He knew he had no hope of winning a hand-to-hand battle with the man. Kisame was just too strong to be overpowered like that.

As he turned to face Kisame again, however, he was startled by a sudden wave of lightheadedness that hit him like a physical blow to the face. His staggered backwards a step, shaking his head as a hazy ring of darkness tunneled his vision. He was suddenly exhausted, as if all the strength had been sucked right out of him. His entire body began to tremble. His breathing became labored, coming in short desperate gasps. Sweat rolled down the sides of his face in thin, watery lines.

"What did you do to me?" he hissed, furiously blinking his eyes against the ring of darkness. He was finding it hard to keep his fingers wrapped around his kunai anymore.

Kisame smiled in response, his pointed teeth flashing in the moonlight. "Ah… So I see you're finally feeling the effects of Samehada. I'm sure you've heard of its ability to absorb chakra, but I bet you didn't know it can also drain people of chakra too. Anyone who comes within striking range of it can instantly be drained of fifteen percent of their chakra reserves. You're lucky you actually managed to dodge it when I came at you - and not just because it would have shredded you to ribbons. A direct hit from Samehada can drain a ninja of more than seventy-five percent of his available chakra." The missing Mist-nin flashed Sasuke a leering grin. His yellow eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "Knowing that now, let's see how well you do this time when I come at you…" Then hoisting his giant sword aloft, the blue-skinned Akatsuki lunged at Sasuke.

By this time, the initial dizziness of having a portion of his chakra drained had passed, and Sasuke had regained a tentative hold over himself again. Unfortunately, he was still no match for the Mist Swordsman's sheer strength and speed, and was forced to hurriedly backpedal to evade each of Kisame's sword swings with barely any opening in between to lunge in for an attack himself.

Pushed more and more onto the defensive, Sasuke struggled to hold his ground against the Akatsuki's deadly advance. He felt like he was trying to fight back an oncoming train. Kisame ruthlessly pressed his attack. Sasuke tried several different genjutsu and ninjutsu techniques, but all of them seemed useless against the more powerful ninja. He could feel himself progressively getting weaker each time Kisame came near him. He felt like an invisible string had been tied between his inner chakra coils and Kisame's sword. Each time the blade came close, it felt as if that string was tugged and unraveled a little bit more inside him, leeching him of strength.

If he didn't do something soon, he knew he wasn't going to last much longer. Judging by how difficult it was becoming to summon the strength needed to dodge and evade Kisame's attacks, he'd already lost more than sixty-five percent of his original chakra reserves…

Kisame suddenly swung his sword at Sasuke middle. Cart wheeling backwards to evade the strike, Sasuke twisted midair and spun around back towards the other ninja. His hands flew into a set of hand seals. Then, poising his two forefingers in front of his lips, he summoned his waning chakra to the back of his throat. And with a thunderous cry of, "Kanton Fireball!" sent a massive plume of fire streaking towards the missing Mist-nin.

Kisame disappeared from view behind the blinding wall of flames. After several moments Sasuke cut the flow of chakra to his mouth off, and the plume of flames disappeared. In front of him stood a scorched track of dirt.

But there was no sign of Kisame anywhere.

Sasuke hurriedly looked around, searching for the missing Swordsman. But before his fire-scorched retinas could even fully readjust to the dim moonlight overhead, a dark figure suddenly seemed to rematerialize out of nowhere just off to Sasuke's right. The boy quickly spun around towards it, his kunai raised in defense.

But he was too slow.

Before he could dodge or even step back in surprise, fiery hot pain exploded across his right hip and side. An agonized scream tore from his lips, and he was sent crashing to the ground. He lay there in a jumbled heap panting for breath, gritting his teeth against the throbbing pain as blood began to seep through the shredded remains of his shirt and into the ground beneath him. He felt as if he'd just been raked across the side with sandpaper, nails, and jagged shards of glass.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's frantic wail sounded somewhere just behind him.

Sasuke desperately tried to force himself back off the ground to stand. But his body suddenly seemed unwilling to respond to his commands. It was like he no longer even had the strength to move…

A nasty chuckle forced Sasuke to give up his struggles and look up at the looming figure above him. Kisame gave a snickering laugh as he stared at the helpless, bleeding boy at his feet. He stood with the guard of his sword resting in the hollow of his shoulder like some foreign harbinger of death. His unnatural yellow eyes seemed to shine with their own demonic light.

"That hurt didn't it?" he chuckled, his lips pulled back in a malicious grin. He critically eyed the bloody mess of torn flesh and cloth spanning Sasuke's side. "Pity. It doesn't look like I managed to chip any bone. Despite whatever your brother says, you're faster than you look. You managed to last much longer against me than I ever thought you would. Unfortunately, I doubt you'll be able to move around much anymore crippled the way you are. Plus, it looks like Samehada drained you of most of your remaining chakra with that last hit. So it looks like our fun together is over…"

Stepping closer, Kisame shifted his sword off his shoulder and swung it up over his head like an executioner taking position over the neck of his prisoner stretched out over the chopping block. Sasuke impassively glared at him, not giving away any of his inner emotions. He didn't want Kisame to have the pleasure of seeing even the tiniest hint of fear or regret flash through his eyes.

Kisame seemed disappointed by the lack of emotions on his victim's face, and scowled. Drawing his sword high up into the air, he prepared to bring it down on the helpless boy.

But before he could deliver the final deadly blow, a sudden shout and weak flare of chakra just off to the side startled both Kisame and Sasuke into looking up at the unexpected newcomer.

Sasuke felt his heart seize and blood freeze.

Barely several paces away, Naruto stood on violently trembling legs, his hands poised in the hand seal of a chakra-summoning jutsu. Faint sparks of energy crackled the air around him, but faded out of existence so quickly Sasuke couldn't be sure he'd actually even seen them at all. The air around the blond sluggishly churned, like the brackish undercurrent of a stagnant lake. A weak pulse of energy radiated off him, but it was like the rumble of a distance thunderstorm muffled by some invisible barrier.

Naruto's entire body shook with the effort to stay standing. A thick sheen of sweat had broken out across his forehead. His teeth were bared in a strained grimace of pain. To Sasuke, he looked like he was mere seconds away from collapsing. Yet despite all this, the fiery look of determination in Naruto's eyes as he stared at the shark-faced ninja above him was almost frightening.

"Get away from Sasuke," he growled, his raspy voice suddenly dangerous and as hard as steel. He changed hand seals, and Sasuke felt the air around Naruto crackle again with a frighteningly weak pulse of restrained chakra. As chakra strained to break past the barrier seal on his stomach, Naruto visibly faltered, almost dropping back to his knees.

"Naruto, what are you doing?!" Sasuke yelled, staring at his friend in horror. "Stop it! You know you can't manipulate chakra right now! If you try to push past Kakashi's seal, you'll only hurt yourself!"

"I don't care!" Naruto yelled. His eyes were like two points of molten sapphire, his entire body tense as if the only thing keeping him standing anymore was sheer willpower. "I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt because of me!"

"Idiot! You're going to kill yourself!" Sasuke screamed. He angrily tried to push himself off the ground to stand, but the pain that blossomed across his side at the movement effectively stilled any more of his efforts to rise. "You can't fight like this! Just run and find the others! Stop trying to be the hero!"

"No! If I die then at least I'll die protecting my friend instead of becoming some kind of puppet for Kyuubi and killing everyone I care about, or being the reason Akatsuki keeping attacking the village! I'm not going to let you or anyone else I know get hurt!"

Above Sasuke, Kisame gave a throaty laugh. "How amusing," he simpered. He glanced at Itachi on the other side of the torn up clearing. "I have to say, Itachi, you Leaf-ninja are cloyingly sweet in how willing you are to sacrifice yourselves for one another."

"Please do not group me in the same category as them," Itachi sniffed. "We might be from the same village, but I am nothing like them. Only those who are weak or pathetically naïve would throw their own lives away like that."

Another chuckle from Kisame. "Well said," he agreed. He slowly looked back at Naruto, then down at Sasuke and grinned. "Let me take care of the blond one first, then I'll come back and finish off your brother. It'll be more fun to have him watch while I tear his friend apart."

"Fine," Itachi shrugged. "Just hurry up and do it. I'm tired of this and want to go back to headquarters. This has dragged on for long enough."

"Don't you dare touch him," Sasuke hissed, glaring at Kisame from where he still lay on the ground. He clutched the kunai in his hand tighter. "If you go anywhere near him-"

"You'll do what?" Kisame laughed, flashing his teeth in a mocking grin. "You are in no position to be making any threats, boy. You're already as good as dead. I'm only letting you live a little bit longer because I want you to see me rip your friend apart limb from limb and watch him gasp for his final breath of air before I come back to finish you off once and for all. Normally I wouldn't go to the effort of making a simple killing into such a large production, but you and that demon-vessel have given us a lot of trouble and I want to make you suffer as little bit as payback. Your friend killed more than half our inner members. I may not have liked any of them, but that doesn't mean we're going to just let that demon-vessel get away with what he did."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his lips curling back from his teeth in a snarl of near mindless rage. His Sharingan whirled so fast the tomoe spokes ringing his pupils were almost a solid black line. He once again tried to rise, but try as he might he couldn't seem to get his legs underneath him to stand. Every little motion sent blinding waves of pain shooting across his hip and side. Blood soaked the entire half of his body. It felt like a thousand tiny blades had been taken to his side and grated across until nothing remained but a bloody mess of little skin flaps and missing chunks of flesh.

Naruto, meanwhile, was still trying to draw upon his disabled chakra reserves. His hands shook with increasing intensity the more he tried to summon the strength to defeat the deadly assassin threatening his teammate. A flash of crackling blue light suddenly enveloped him, but swiftly disappeared again behind Kakashi's Five Point seal. Naruto staggered and almost fell. But with a stubborn grunt of effort, he forced himself to straighten and continue his desperate bid for strength.

Kisame calmly stepped away from Sasuke towards him, his cloak swishing harshly over the grass. The blade of his overlarge sword shimmered in the moonlight like the scales of some exotic fish. "You should listen to your friend," he said as he slowly approached the blond shinobi. "What you're trying to do it useless. There's no way you're going to be able to break past that curse seal. Your chakra lines are completely blocked. All you're doing right now is trying to fool yourself into believing you still have some hope of escaping. There's no way you're going to beat me."

"Then you don't know me very well," Naruto hissed between gritted teeth as another flurry of blue sparks flashed and faded around him. The air began to churn a little faster as if the boy had become the eye of some brewing hurricane. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who was once going to be the future Hokage. No stupid curse seal is going to keep me from defeating you! I might not be able to use all my chakra right now, but I don't need it! Because that's not what true strength is, or what I need to beat you. True strength comes from protecting the people you care about. It's the most powerful thing in the world. I used that strength once even when I didn't know I still had it to regain control of my body from Kyuubi, and I'll use it again to protect Sasuke! He's my best friend - my most precious person! I'm not going to let you hurt him, even if I have to die doing it!"

Then closing his eyes and throwing his head back as a thunderous scream of pain and determination tore from his lips, a powerful surge of energy exploded from his stomach. Brilliant blue light filled the air and encased him in a whirlwind of uncontrolled chakra, Kakashi's curse seal now no longer there to restrain it.

"Naruto, no!" Sasuke screamed, but his voice was swallowed by the deafening roar of chakra.

The storm of chakra continued to build until Sasuke could barely even see his friend anymore behind the crackling wall of light. As if possessed by this surge of light, Naruto sunk into a battle stance and flung his one arm out to the side. A separate concentration of chakra began to gather in the palm of his hand, spinning and swirling with the power of a thousand tiny suns; and as Sasuke watched in awe-struck disbelief, saw a full fledge Rasengan appear in Naruto's hand.

"Itachi!" Kisame cried, his eyes wide as he stared at the frail, Rasengan-wielding boy.

"Kill him!" Itachi screamed, his blood red eyes locked on Naruto. "He's somehow managed to break the chakra seal! Finish him now before he summons anymore!"

Kisame nodded, gripping his sword in both hands.

Naruto turned towards him, his Rasengan cradled in the palm of his hand like a live grenade. "Get away from my friend!" he roared. Then with an unforeseen surge of strength lunged at the sword-wielding Akatsuki.

Kisame drew his sword back, ready to meet him in a titanic clash of metal and chakra.

Naruto seemed to literally radiate power as he rushed the missing-nin, chakra pulsing from every pore of his being. Sasuke was sure he'd never seen Naruto look so fierce or powerful as he did that moment - not even when they'd fought each other in the Valley of the End.

The two seemed to move towards each other in slow motion. It was like they'd suddenly been suspended in a world which moved at only a fraction of the speed of the rest of reality. As they came within only paces of one another Naruto drew his fist back over his shoulder, his eyes locked on Kisame. The Akatsuki nin also began to swing his sword back, ready to cleave the approaching boy in half.

Sasuke felt his heart clench into a tiny ball in the middle of his chest.

No! What was Naruto doing? What was he hoping to accomplish rushing an opponent head on like that? Even when they were still a team, Kakashi had always yelled at Naruto for that, telling him that brute strength was not always the best option and that he needed to learn to use his brains to win. But the boy had never seemed to listen. It was like he firmly believed he could defeat his enemy by using nothing more than brute strength. It was a technique so crass and unrefined it was something only Naruto would continue to use. Even now, years after Kakashi had tried to teach him better, it still seemed the blond believed the best way to win a fight was to throw himself head first at his opponent.

Sasuke had no illusions his friend had no chance of beating Kisame. Even with Kakashi's seal gone and Naruto's ability to use chakra restored, he was still no match for an S-class ninja like Kisame in the shape he was in.

Sasuke had no time to think, no time to even question the sanity of his own actions. All he knew was that he had to do something, or the blond numbskull was going to die right there in front of him.

And he couldn't let that happen.

Quickly mustering his dwindling strength and moving faster than the pain in his side even had time to register in his panic-stricken brain, Sasuke lunged at Kisame's turned back and wrapped his arms around the Mist-ninja's legs, knocking them out from under him.

Even though he couldn't see the older ninja's face Sasuke heard Kisame's startled grunt and felt him pitch forward, off-balanced by his overlarge sword face first-

right into Naruto's Rasengan.

A blood-curdling scream shook the night over the deafening blast of Naruto's jutsu. The world became nothing more than a fiery void of light and sound. It felt like a thousand tiny hands pulling and tearing at the youngest Uchiha's body.

Sasuke felt himself sent flying backwards through the air, and then-

Pain. That was the first thing to register in the his mind when he felt himself collide with the ground half a second later. For a moment Sasuke could do nothing more than just lay where he landed, dazedly blinking the white afterimages from his vision. Slowly pulling himself together, he pushed himself off the ground enough to take stock of things around him.

He'd been thrown several yards from where he originally was. The moonlit clearing was now nothing more than a chakra-scorched crater around him. Half a dozen paces away Kisame's body lay in a jumbled heap, his limbs twisted and motionless. Wispy curls of smoke wafted off his body and drifted away on the cool night breeze that blew through the clearing. Kisame's giant sword lay half a dozen feet off to the side in the scorched grass, probably dropped there sometime after Naruto's jutsu had slammed into its owner's face.

Sasuke glanced at Kisame's offended visage, and immediately looked away again. The missing-nin's face was nothing but a hollow, smoking mass of ashy charcoal.

Somehow Sasuke couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for the missing-nin or how he'd met his end. After all he'd done to his friend, it seemed like a fair punishment…

A gurgly gasp of air suddenly startled Sasuke into looking up at the blond in question. Naruto knelt on the ground several feet away from the Akatsuki ninja's charred corpse, half bent down over his knees. He was tightly clutching his chest, bunching the material of his shirt into a tiny ball directly over his heart. He was violently shaking as if he no longer had any control over his own muscles. It looked like he was about to come apart at the joints he shook so violently. As Sasuke watched, the boy suddenly spasmed, his entire body convulsing as if touched by a strong electrical current. His face had become ghostly white, and his eyes taken on a far away glazed look.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, panic creeping up the back of his throat. He knew these symptoms. He'd learned about them back in the academy when they began studying the dangers of miscontrolled chakra. What Naruto was experiencing were the tale tell signs of chakra exhaustion - a dangerous enough condition for anyone, but for a boy with one foot already in the grave, it could almost certainly prove deadly…

Naruto convulsed again, his limbs sharply stiffening. His eyes suddenly rolled back into his head. And then his entire body going limp, he collapsed forward onto the charred ground and lay there motionless.

"NARUTO!"

Sasuke ignored the wave of pain that exploded through his hip and side and forced his broken body to stand and half-crawl, half-stumble towards his friend's motionless body.

He reached Naruto and collapsed down next to him. Snaking one arm under the other's chest, Sasuke rolled the near weightless boy over in his arms. Naruto's head lifelessly lulled into the crook of his elbow. In the moonlight, Naruto's skin shined a pale, waxy white. His eyelashes pressed against his cheeks in two black half-circles.

"Naruto? Naruto, answer me! Answer me, dammit!" Sasuke screamed as he frantically shook the other boy's shoulder. But Naruto refused to respond. Pressing two fingers to the blond's neck, Sasuke was startled by the frighteningly weak pulse that fluttered underneath his fingertips. "Naruto, don't you dare die on me!" he yelled. "I told you not to try and be the hero! You complete idiot, why can't you ever just listen to what I say?!"

But no matter how loud Sasuke ranted or raved, or how hard he shook his friend's skeletal frame, nothing seemed able to break Naruto out of his comatose state.

Sasuke could feel Naruto's heartbeat beginning to slow. He could almost feel the demon-vessel's chakra coils sputtering inside him as they entered their final stage of shut down.

"Naruto, don't do this!" Sasuke cried, desperately shaking the other boy. "You have to keep fighting! Please!"

"That foul little monster…"

Sasuke was momentarily startled out of his panic by the deceptively low hiss of his older brother's voice. His head snapping up towards the sound, Sasuke found Itachi standing on the far side of the clearing - his presence completely forgotten until now - with his eyes locked on the motionless blond figure cradled in Sasuke's arms.

Itachi glanced over at the charred remains of his partner, his teeth bared in an ugly snarl. "He killed Kisame… Even nothing more than a walking corpse, that demon-vessel managed to kill one of Akatsuki's strongest ninja…" His Sharingan spinning, Itachi whipped his sword from its sheath and turned towards his younger brother and dying friend. Like the possessed incarnation of some enraged demon, Itachi advanced on them. The sharpened edge of his sword caught a shaft of moonlight and flashed a cold, brilliant silver.

"No more games!" Itachi roared. His tomoe dotted eyes glowed like two windows into the very pits of Hell. "This ends here and now!" Then lifting his deadly sword above his head, he lunged at the two boys, ready to end both their tragically young lives.

Time once again seemed to stand still. As if moving in slow motion, Sasuke's body seemed to move on its own.

In one smooth motion, Sasuke released his hold on Naruto and let the other boy slide from his arms back to the ground. Then gripping the kunai still clenched in his fist, he leapt over Naruto's body to stand in between his friend and older brother; and thrust his kunai out even as Itachi's sword swung down on him in a long graceful arc.

Blinding white pain exploded through Sasuke's left shoulder. He must have involuntarily closed his eyes against the pain, because when he opened them again he found himself staring back into the startled red eyes of his older brother whose face hovered mere inches in front of his own. Hot, thick blood poured like water down his back and chest where Itachi's sword had buried itself in his shoulder almost to the junction of his collarbone and upper rib-

and down the length of his arm from where he'd simultaneously plunged the tip of his kunai into his older brother's heart.

Itachi stared at Sasuke almost dumbly, as if he couldn't understand what had just happened. Blood appeared in the corner of his mouth and streaked down the side of his chin in a thin red line. His lips weakly twitched, as though trying to speak. But all that came out was a watery gurgle.

Swallowing back the pain now spreading like wildfire through his entire chest and arm, Sasuke leaned forward and speared Itachi with an ice-cold glare. "I won't let you take any more of my precious people away from me…" he hissed as if in answer to the unspoken question written across his brother's face, and almost grinned at the look of surprise that flashed through Itachi's eyes.

Itachi's lips soundlessly moved again, struggling for words. But then, his eyelids growing too heavy for him to keep open anymore, Itachi's eyes slowly slid shut, forever shuttering the bloodline trait he'd massacred his entire family to test from the rest of the world. His grip on his sword hilt faltered, and he limply sagged to the ground at Sasuke's feet.

Dead.

For a moment, Sasuke just stood there, staring at the motionless corpse of his older brother - the one he'd spent so many years training to kill. It seemed unreal somehow, like it was all really just some sort of dream. After so many years of plotting his revenge, Sasuke couldn't seem to comprehend the reality of all his hardship and pain finally culminating in this abrupt and sudden end.

Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't have time to contemplate or savor his victory any more as the pain in his shoulder suddenly reached a whole new level. Blood was now literally pouring down the front of his chest. He had a sinking suspicion that Itachi had hit a major artery…

Wrenching Itachi's sword from his shoulder - and biting back a muffled cry of pain - Sasuke dropped to his knees back down beside Naruto's still form. The blood was coming faster now with Itachi's sword no longer there to staunch the flow. Sasuke could feel it pulse from his body with every beat of his heart. He was also dismayed by how lightheaded he suddenly felt and the hazy ring of darkness blurring his vision.

Clutching his shoulder with his right hand to staunch the dangerous blood flow, Sasuke leaned down over Naruto and pressed two fingers of his other hand to the blond's neck again. He could barely feel a pulse anymore. Naruto's breathing was also almost nonexistent. His entire body was shutting down, his chakra coils failing. If Naruto didn't receive a chakra transfusion soon to support his failing chakra system he was going to die within a matter of minutes.

Ignoring his own injury and crippling pain, Sasuke pressed the palm of his left hand to Naruto's chest. The blood running down his arm stained the front of Naruto's shirt a dark, sticky red.

"Come on, Naruto!" he yelled through gritted teeth as he gathered his remaining chakra and began to desperately pump it into his friend's motionless form. "You have to keep fighting! You can't give up now! You said you wanted to be Hokage someday! Hokage never give up! You have to keep fighting! Please!"

But no hint of response came from the unconscious demon-vessel.

As Sasuke continued to forcibly push his own chakra into Naruto's empty chakra coils, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him like a blow to the back of the head. His vision swam dangerously, almost going black. Shaking his head, Sasuke forced himself to ignore the pain and continue working. The flow chakra going from his hand into his friend was began to slow, fading away along was the rest of his life force that seeped down his shoulder and hip in the form of sticky red blood. Sasuke felt the life line between himself and Naruto taper to a mere trickle.

"No… Come on… Come on, Naruto… you have to keep fighting…" Sasuke begged, desperately trying to give yet more of his waning strength. He knew he was nearing the end of his limit. He didn't know how much longer he was going to last. He could barely see straight anymore his vision was so blurry. His hearing suddenly sounded muffled, as if he was hearing things from the end of a long narrow tunnel. An uncomfortable buzzing had started in the back of his head. His head was so light it felt like it was only connected to the rest of his body by a thin piece of string.

And yet he still continued to pump what remaining chakra he had into his dying friend.

The darkness tunneling his vision slowly began to spread, seeping across his vision like a spilt bottle of ink. He suddenly felt weightless, as if he were falling backwards into a bottomless pit of nothingness.

And just before the last vestiges of pain faded from the edges of his consciousness, one last thought happened to cross Sasuke's mind:

_Naruto… _His fading conscious called. _I'm sorry… I wasn't strong enough to save us… Forgive me…_

And then, there was nothing…

To Be Continued…

So? Was the wait worth it? I thought Itachi's death was poetic in the fact that Sasuke finally managed to kill him, but was not motivated by hatred or revenge, but rather the selfless desire to protect his friend.

Any thoughts?

PLEASE REVIEW!

I know it was a long chapter, but I really worked my butt off to get a nice update out. Feedback's appreciated.


	14. Bedside Vigil

Thanks for all the feedback last chapter!

**Chapter Fourteen: Bedside Vigil**

A heavy silence seemed to hang over the hospital as a lone figure made his way to the end of the hallway, and carefully craned his neck around the corner to scout down the length of the new corridor in either direction. Seeing no one, Kakashi Hatake painfully pushed his wheelchair back into motion and turned into the adjacent hallway to the right.

It had taken a lot to get his hands on this wheelchair. One would think they were precious commodities or something by the way the doctors and nurses hoarded them away. He'd had to spend more than forty-five minutes smooth talking one of the afternoon nurses into bringing him one - and even then, it was only after he promised that he wasn't going to use it to try and escape or anything that she'd actually brought him one.

Like he was actually going to get that far in it even if he wanted to… His entire chest was swaddled in bandages from his collar bone to his hip. He was lucky to even be able to be sitting up right now, let alone sneaking out of his room to search the hospital like this. Kyuubi had come closer to killing him than Kakashi cared to admit even to himself. Despite all the painkillers and medication he'd been given, his chest still felt like one massive throbbing wound where his possessed student had nearly sliced him in half. By all rights he should still be laying flat on his back in bed. But it would have been impossible for him not to overhear the rumors that had been spreading like wildfire through the hospital all day.

From what he could determine by the bits of secondhand information he'd managed to gather, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki - two of the last known remaining inner members of the feared crime organization Akatsuki - were dead. And by the hands of his former students, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, no less.

And that was what had compelled Kakashi to ignore his own injuries and pain to commandeer a wheelchair to go on some wild goose chase through the hospital in search of his missing students. Because from what he'd been able to gather from the circulating rumors, the two boys hadn't escaped their fight with Itachi and Kisame unscathed. And depending on which rumors one happened to be listening to at the time or who was telling it, both were either teetering on the brink of death, or already laying dead somewhere in the hospital morgue.

Nobody seemed to know for sure which…

Kakashi came to the end of another hallway and paused to look around the corner to see if it was clear. The last thing he needed right now was to be caught wandering the halls by some nurse and taken back to his room. He still hadn't seen any sign of his students yet, and didn't like the idea of going back with no more information than what he'd originally set out with. He knew he wouldn't be able to rest until he found out what happened. Over the years Team Seven had become like a replacement family for him; Sasuke and Naruto both like sons. He had to find out where they were and if they were alright. Both boys had already suffered so much. If one of them died…

Kakashi quickly cut that line of thought off before it could go any farther. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to contemplate losing one of his students again. He'd already lost so many people through the years, including his number-one loudmouthed ninja once. Naruto's first death had been like having his heart ripped out and trampled on. He didn't know if he could go through that again. If he lost Naruto or Sasuke - or worse yet, _both_ of them - he didn't know what he was going to do…

The wheelchair-bound ninja came to yet another intersection and took another right. He had no idea where he was going, but decided to follow his gut instinct. It had served him well in the past and kept him alive in more than a few close battles. He only hoped it could somehow lead him to his missing students now.

Up ahead, Kakashi suddenly caught sight of a small vending area. Several drink and snack machines lined one side of the corridor, the hum of their bright florescent bodies echoing through the silence of the hospital's sterilized white halls. As Kakashi wheeled his way towards them, another person suddenly appeared out of one of the adjacent hallways further down the hall, and stepped up to them, plunking several coins into the hot drink machine. It was a young woman, dressed in red medi-nin clothes. As Kakashi watched, the girl wearily punched the button for hot tea from the list of available drinks; and as a paper cup dropped down behind the machine's plastic window and a narrow stream of hot liquid began to fill it, the girl leaned her forehead against the vending machine and released a shuddering half-sob, half-sigh of exhaustion.

The copy ninja cautiously slowed, eyeing the medi-nin warily. Subconsciously, he reached up to readjust the edge of his mask and slouched headband which he'd managed to find before venturing out into the halls. He didn't need to be caught wandering the hallways by some nosey nurse now. He still had to find his students. But as he drew closer and was able to finally get a good look at the girl, recognition washed over him and he softly called out, "Sakura?"

The girl's head shot up, her pink hair flying around her face as she spun around to face him. "Kakashi-sensei?" she gasped.

Now able to properly see her, Kakashi saw that there were tears in the young kunoichi's eyes, her bright green orbs swimming in a sea of barely contained anguish. Dark circles ringed red-rimmed eyes, exhaustion etched into every corner of her visage as if she hadn't gotten any sleep in the last several days. As if aware of Kakashi's scrutiny, Sakura self-consciously scrubbed the back of one hand across her face and visibly tried to regain her composure.

"Kakashi-sensei," she stammered in a suspiciously tight voice, fighting back a wet sniffle, "what are you doing up? You should still be in bed. You're in no shape to be up like this. You were almost killed last night. You could tear your stitches open sneaking around like this."

Kakashi waved her worries aside as if shooing away a fly. "I'm fine," he said in his most reassuring, offhanded tone. Growing serious though, he speared his student with a troubled look. "But I am worried about Sasuke and Naruto. I heard some disturbing rumors floating around the hospital. Something about them getting into a battle with Itachi and Kisame? No one's come around to tell me anything yet."

Sakura's expression became strained, as if struggling to hold back another wave of tears. Her lips slowly curled away from her teeth in a pained grimace.

Kakashi instantly noticed and leaned forward in his seat. The smoldering sense of worry in the pit of his stomach flared into full fledge panic. "Sakura, what is it? What happened? Where's Naruto and Sasuke? Don't tell me Akatsuki came after Naruto again-"

"No," Sakura said, fighting to keep her voice from breaking as a rush of strained emotions threatened to break past her defenses. The watery shine of tears in her eyes became impossibly bright. "Akatsuki didn't try to attack the village again. But Naruto was afraid of Kyuubi getting out again. After what happened with you and Gai-sensei he was afraid he might hurt someone else if his seal broke, so he tried to run away. We… we think he was going to try and commit suicide…"

Kakashi stared at his former student, his one eye growing wide with horror.

Sakura looked away from her former teacher to the floor, a choked off sob breaking somewhere in the back of her throat. "Sasuke went after him," she forced herself to go on. "I don't know exactly what happened but it looks like Itachi and Kisame were still near Konoha and attacked them in the forest. They… it looks like there was some kind of battle. Itachi and Kisame were killed, but…" Sakura trailed off with an unsteady sob.

Kakashi leaned forward, grasping both of Sakura's hands in his own. "Sakura, where's Sasuke and Naruto?" he demanded, his usually calm and composed voice taking on a frightened, desperate tone. "What happened to them? Are they alright? Tell me where they are."

"The other search teams that followed Sasuke into the forest found them a couple of miles outside of the eastern wall of the village. They-" Sakura broke off with another sob. "They were both badly injured… Naruto was suffering from extreme chakra exhaustion. He somehow managed to break your curse seal and I guess tried to help Sasuke fight. He'd already gone into full body convulsions and final chakra coil shutdown when they found him. And Sasuke… h- he…" For a moment Sakura couldn't seem to bring herself to finish the sentence. But pulling herself together she stammered on, "Itachi almost took his arm off at the shoulder. There was so much blood, for awhile rescue teams couldn't tell who was really bleeding…"

Kakashi sat there frozen, dread washing over him like an icy wave. His grip on Sakura's hands tightened. "Naruto and Sasuke, where are they? Are they alright?" Despite his desperate demand for answers, Kakashi couldn't help but note that deep down, he really didn't want to know. He was afraid of what the kunoichi's answer might be.

"When Shikamaru, Neji and the others found them, Sasuke and Naruto were almost dead… Neji and Kiba both had to give Naruto chakra transfusions to keep his chakra coils from shutting down. Hinata was the only one with them that had any actual medical training and managed to stave off the worst of Sasuke's bleeding until ANBU teams could arrive and help them transport Naruto and Sasuke back to the village…"

Kakashi stared at Sakura, his heart hammering against the inside of his chest. "So," he hesitantly said, almost afraid to hope, "they're both still alive?"

A shuddery exhale of air from Sakura. Then a shaky, timid smile. "Yes," she nodded. But before Kakashi could appreciate the younger ninja's words of hope, the smile disappeared and was replaced with a pensive look of lingering apprehension. "But they're both still in really bad shape. They're not completely out of the woods yet. Tsunade-sama and at least three teams of medics spent more than half the day working on them, and Tsunade says they could still easily relapse. She's not sure if either of them are ever going to fully recover either. Sasuke's arm and Naruto's chakra reserves… The amount of damage both of them sustained was enormous. Neither one of them might be able to be ninja any more…"

Kakashi digested this for a moment, then nodded. "I see," he murmured.

"Sasuke and Naruto are lucky to even be alive," Sakura went on, tears still shining in the corners of her eyes. "The other teams only managed to find them in time because of the amount of chakra they were putting out right before it disappeared. It was a really close call. I saw them when the ANBU teams brought them in… If they had been even a few more minutes getting them here, I don't know if-"

"Sakura," Kakashi's gentle voice cut her off.

The young medi-nin looked down at him with haunted, watery green eyes.

"Don't think about those kind of things," he said. "It doesn't do any good to dwell on what might have been or what could have happened. Just be thankful that they were able to be found in time and brought here. I have total faith in the Hokage's medical skills. With her looking over them, I have no doubt Sasuke and Naruto will make it through this. We just need to give them time to heal."

Sakura nodded. "But…" she softly murmured, "it was still such a close call…"

Kakashi nodded again, but said nothing else to try and dispel the girl's unspoken alternate outcomes and frightening could-have-beens. He knew what kind of possibilities were going through the young girl's mind because the same ones were going through his. They had come so close to losing their teammates. So very, very close… Sakura had grown as both a person and a ninja since her early years as an immature, doey-eyed fan girl; and for her to be reduced to such an emotional state like the one she was in now… Well, that in and of itself spoke of how badly Sasuke and Naruto must have been hurt. The lingering uncertainty of their recovery could not be helping matters much either. Sakura always had been rather protective of her teammates…

Giving his student's hands one last reassuring squeeze, Kakashi released them and looked up into her worry-shadowed face. "Can you tell me where Naruto and Sasuke are?" he asked. "I'd like to see them."

Using the back of her hand, Sakura wiped the last remnants of tears from her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can take you to them," she said, her voice now composed and strong. "They're both in the intensive care unit. Even though Akatsuki's gone, Tsunade put several ANBU guards on them. She's not taking any more chances, especially after the last couple times with Naruto when we thought he was safe."

Kakashi nodded and leaned back in his wheelchair as Sakura stepped around the back and took hold of the handles. Glancing at the vending machine, he asked, "Don't you want your tea anymore?"

Sakura shook her head with a disgusted grimace and pushed the wheelchair into motion. "Forget about it. That stuff's worse than toxic waste. I only came down here to get something hot to drink to help me stay awake. I've been helping Tsunade-sama in the hospital ever since Kyuubi broke through Naruto's curse seal. We've been so busy I haven't even gotten a chance to take a break. And then when Naruto and Sasuke came in…" She trailed off with a noticeable waver, the rest of her sentence left hanging unspoken in the air. "Let's just say it's been a long day…" she murmured.

The two quickly made their way through the halls, Sakura knowing exactly where she was going. Kakashi was glad he'd managed to come across Sakura; he wasn't sure he would have been able to navigate the hospital's confusing network of hallways himself. He was also glad the girl was there to push the chair for him now. His chest had been starting to throb fiercely from trying to wheel it himself.

After a few minutes - and several identical hallways later - the two suddenly came within sight of a set of automatic doors. The words 'Intensive Care Unit' were written across the wall above them. On either side of the doors stood two ANBU guards with painted porcelain masks.

They both looked up at Kakashi and Sakura's approach, their hands straying to the hilts of their katana. But then with a respectful nod to Sakura, one of them silently reached out to push a button on the wall beside him. The double doors behind them swung open with a metallic whirl, and the ANBU guards stoically turned to face forward again with hardly a second glance.

"I guess being the Hokage's apprentice has its perks, right?" Kakashi chuckled over his shoulder as the two moved past the guards and doors swung shut behind them.

Sakura said nothing, but the tiny smirk playing at the corners of her mouth said everything.

There was a noticeable difference on the other side of the doors. It was almost like they'd just stepped into a completely different building. A heavy silence pervaded the air. It reminded Kakashi of a library where making even the slightest sound somehow felt sacrilegious. The squeak of his wheelchair on the polished floor and the soft tread of Sakura's footsteps seemed to echo forever down the sterile white hallways. Kakashi shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't like places like this. It felt like there was some kind of ominous, unspoken presence in the air - as if Death itself was waiting just around the corner to take the souls of the ones whose lives still hung so tentatively in the balance here.

Sakura gently wheeled her injured teacher towards one of the identical doors lining the hallway, and pulled the chair to a stop. "This is it," she whispered. Her muffled voice echoed loudly through the ward's oppressive silence. "Tsunade had Naruto and Sasuke put in the same room. After everything that happened, it didn't seem right to separate them…"

Kakashi said nothing, his one eye shadowed with unspoken apprehension.

Leaning around the quiet copy ninja, Sakura softly opened the door and pushed him through the doorway.

Kakashi wasn't that surprised to find the hospital room already filled with people. The first to gain his attention was the Fifth Hokage herself standing at the foot of the bed nearest the door. She was reading a report scroll, her face drawn and etched with exhaustion as her eyes sluggishly moved up and down the lines of text. Her usually immaculate hair hung limp around her face and gave her a frazzled, distressed look.

Behind her in the far corner of the room, Jiraiya sat in the only available chair. The Sannin was dressed in hospital scrubs with his right arm heavily bandaged at the shoulder and held against his chest in a sling. (Kakashi got a small sense of satisfaction knowing that he wasn't the only one that had ventured out of bed despite his injuries to search for his injured students.) Jiraiya's usually ruddy face was unnaturally pale - the Toad Sage still obviously suffering from some form of blood loss from Akatsuki's attack the day before. Despite this, however, Kakashi could still feel an underlying aura of power radiating off the man as he stared at the frail occupant of the bed farthest inside the room, his eyes filled with some emotion Kakashi couldn't exactly name but likened to heartache or quiet despair.

Near the door along the wall stood several younger ninja, all of them whom Kakashi instantly recognized. Making up their ranks were Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuuga, and his younger cousin Hinata. All of them stood at informal attention, their eyes shifting restlessly between Tsunade and the report she was reading and the two figures laying motionless in the beds. The soft beeping of machines was the only sound to break up the otherwise intense silence of the room.

At Sakura and Kakashi's entrance, Tsunade glanced up at the wheelchair-bound ninja in surprise. "Kakashi?" she said, lowering the scroll she'd been reading and setting it on the bed beside her. Kakashi tried to see who its occupant was, but could only make out a mound of blankets, tubes and wires from the angle he was sitting at.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, stepping towards him with a stern look on her face. "You could tear your stitches open being up like this. Don't tell me you snuck out of your room like Jiraiya did. I swear you two are bound and determined to wind up in intensive care or back in surgery."

Kakashi glanced at the Sannin on the other side of the room, and shared a brief look of silent camaraderie with him. "I heard that my students were injured," he replied, looking back at Tsunade and meeting her gaze undaunted. "No one came to tell me about their condition, or even about their run-in with Itachi and Kisame in the woods. I only heard about it from rumors going around the nurses' station. Needless to say I was concerned and went to find out if they were alright."

Tsunade's features softened and once again took on a tired, haggard appearance. "I'm sorry I didn't send anyone to tell you what happened," she sighed. "But I've been too busy trying to stabilize their conditions all day that I haven't even been able to read the rescue teams' reports until now." She motioned with her chin towards the chuunin standing on the one side of the room. "It's been total chaos around here since they were brought in. I'm sure Sakura's filled you in on what happened?"

"She did," Kakashi nodded.

Tsunade gave another sigh and glanced at the occupant of the bed closest to her. "It was so close…" she murmured. "We almost lost both of them. I don't know what Naruto was thinking sneaking off like that, or what Sasuke was thinking going after him and getting into a battle with two S-class ninja. Both those brats almost got themselves killed."

"Trouble does seem to follow them wherever they go," Kakashi conceded.

"If we hadn't felt their chakra signals flare, we probably wouldn't have found them until it was too late," Shikamaru spoke up from the side of the room. "We were so far away we were only able to get a general direction of where they were when Sasuke started fighting. It was only when we felt Naruto's chakra signal that we were able to pin point their exact location and find them."

"But how did Naruto break past my Five Point Seal?" Kakashi asked. "He shouldn't have been able to manipulate any chakra."

"We've just learned to never put anything past Naruto," Kiba said with a shrug. "I mean, first he comes back from the dead, then becomes the living incarnation of the nine-tailed fox demon, and then manages to help kill two Akatsuki ninja when he's already half dead… I mean, after all that what's breaking a chakra seal to him?"

"He's proven on several different occasions capable of things I never would have thought anyone possible of," Neji added. "I have no doubt there came a moment when they were fighting that he no longer cared about what he was suppose to be able to do or not, and just ignored his proposed limitations."

Despite himself, Kakashi chuckled under his breath. "Yeah, that sounds exactly like something Naruto would do…" Growing sober though, the famed copy ninja glanced at the hospital beds lining the side of the room. Waving Sakura away from the back of his chair, Kakashi reached down on either side of him and began to wheel himself towards the nearest bed. Tsunade quietly stepped aside to give him room to see its sleeping occupant.

What Kakashi saw when he came up beside the bed and looked over its railing momentarily made the seasoned ninja forget about the others around him and softly gasp under his mask.

The one in the bed was none other than his own prodigal student Sasuke Uchiha. But the boy he remembered training as a rookie gennin was not the same boy he saw laying before him now.

Sasuke's complexion was deathly pale, almost the same shade of white as the very sheets he lay on. The dark half-circles of his eyelashes contrasted sharply with the ashen hue of his cheeks like two brushstrokes of the ink against pure white paper. His entire chest and left shoulder was wound in bandages, his left arm partially wrapped down against his chest. Kakashi assumed it was to keep him from moving it and ripping his wounded shoulder open again. Countless tubes, wires, IVs and heart monitor patches trailed off his arms and chest to the numerous machines surrounding his bed. An oxygen line had been fitted underneath his nose and wrapped around either side of his face behind his ears. Except for the barely perceptible rise and fall of his chest, the boy lay unnaturally still, as if he were caught in the grips of some death-like sleep.

For a moment, Kakashi couldn't bring himself to comprehend the sight of his ex-student laying there so still and lifeless. Never had he seen Sasuke look so frail or weak before. It just didn't seem right.

"Dear gods…" he unconsciously murmured.

"From what we could tell, Sasuke tried to give his own chakra to Naruto," Hinata's timid voice spoke up. "He barely had any chakra inside him when we found them, but I could sense a small line of connection still running between them even though he'd already lost consciousness. I had to cut it before Sasuke could go into full chakra exhaustion himself. If it hadn't been for him, Naruto probably would have died before we even got there…"

Kakashi stared at his unconscious student, a storm of emotions and thoughts swirling around his head. He'd been prepared to see his students injured, ready to see what had become such a common sight to him over the years as a ninja. But somehow seeing Sasuke laid out like this - near dead, crippled and hurt almost beyond recognition - it shook him to the very core of his being. Just how close had they come to losing them?

Suddenly remembering something, Kakashi whirled around in his seat towards the other bed. He'd almost forgotten about Naruto. If Sasuke had suffered so much damage, how bad was Naruto? The blond had already been in such bad shape before he'd tried to run away. How much more abuse could he have possibly suffered and not been killed?

Wheeling his way towards the other bedside, Kakashi looked over the railing and felt his heart clench.

Naruto lay in much the same state as Sasuke. Wires, tubes, and patches covered him in a web of mechanical life support. His breathing was shallow and short, his skin almost translucent. Several blankets covered his frail form, but seemed to do nothing to stop the violent tremors racking his bone-thin body. Naruto's entire body shook as if he'd been plunged in a vat of ice water and left out in the cold.

Concerned, Kakashi snaked his hand through the bed's railing and gently took his student's twitching, tube-infested hand in his own. Despite what he was expecting, Naruto's hand wasn't cold but surprisingly warm to the touch.

"He's shaking because of the chakra transfusions," Tsunade explained, as if reading the copy ninja's thoughts. "It's the different chakra types. They aren't meshing well inside his chakra coils. Naruto seems to have an affinity for Wind chakra, and the other ones are overloading his system. I know for a fact that Sasuke has an affinity for Fire, so the chakra he gave Naruto - and the chakra other rescue team members gave him - is making him react like this."

"Will he be okay?" Kakashi asked.

Tsunade nodded. "Once his chakra coils begin to recover and produce more of his own chakra, the tremors should stop. The chakra transfusions might have had some adverse side effects but they managed to keep him alive, which in the long run is the most important thing. Naruto and Sasuke both have a long recovery ahead of them, but at least they still have the opportunity to make one…"

Kakashi mutely nodded, unable to find any words to reply. He gently cradled Naruto's hand in his own, as if it were really a spun piece of glass. It'd been close… so very, very close. Any closer and they could have very well lost them both…

Kakashi sat there in a numb sort of daze, trying to digest everything he'd just heard. The other ninja filling the room were quiet, the same unsettling thought going through their own minds. The rhythmic beeping of machines was the only thing to break the suffocating silence of the room; when suddenly, a murmured groan - barely loudly than a whisper - sounded from Sasuke's bed.

Everyone's head snapped towards it. The stitches across Kakashi's stomach pulled and almost tore he spun around in his seat so fast.

Another moan - this time a little louder - and Kakashi was almost instantaneously at his other student's bedside. Tsunade, Sakura, and several of the others were not far behind.

"Sasuke?" he called, anxiously scooting to the edge of his seat so he could peer over the side of the bed. He slipped his hand through the railing and grasped the boy's hand in his own.

Sasuke groggily rolled his head towards Kakashi, his eyelids weakly fluttering. Slowly, his eyes slid apart to reveal two pain-filled black orbs. He blankly stared ahead at some point just over Kakashi's left shoulder, as though not even conscious enough to know what he was looking at.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi said, leaning closer. "Can you hear me?"

The only thing to answer him was a barely audible groan of pain. Kakashi gently squeezed the boy's hand, hoping to give him something tangible to focus his sedative-clouded mind on.

"Sasuke, do you know who I am? Do you know where you are?" Kakashi asked, his voice gentle but insistent. After seeing his students so hurt and near-death, all he wanted was to hear Sasuke's voice to reassure himself once and for all that he was truly and honestly still alive.

Sasuke didn't immediately answer. He just laid there and continued to blankly stare ahead into nothing. It was like he was trapped in some hazy state of awareness in between full consciousness and sleep. Kakashi wondered if it wasn't because of all the painkillers the boy was on.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi called, desperate to hear his student speak. "Can you-?"

"Naru…to… w- where?" a raspy whisper cut Kakashi off. It was Sasuke. The boy shifted in his nest of blankets, rolling his head across the pillow to hazily look around the room. "Naruto…" he called again with a bit more strength. A panicked look suddenly entered Sasuke's half-lidded eyes. His breath began to come faster and hitched. "Naruto… where...?" he called, desperation now coloring his voice.

The boy slowly disentangled his hand from Kakashi's grasp and weakly gripped the railing beside him. And as all those present watched in stunned silence, the bandaged, half-dead boy tried to pull himself up into a sitting position.

"Uchiha, what are you doing?" Naji demanded, stepping up to the other side of the bed across from Kakashi. "You're going to hurt yourself. Lay still." He put his hand in the center of Sasuke's chest and tried to push him back down on the bed, but the boy resisted.

"No…" he groaned, barely half-conscious. "Where's Naruto..? Where is he…?"

"He's fine," Kakashi interjected. Sasuke sluggishly turned his head towards him, as if that simple motion was almost too much for him to manage. His eyes were glazed with pain and sedatives and ringed by dark shadows. A faint sheen of sweat had broken across his skin and glistened on his bloodless brow. Kakashi reached out and took Sasuke's hand again, squeezing it reassuringly. "Naruto's right here," he said. "He's just on the other side of the room. He's going to be alright."

"Lemme see…" Sasuke slurred, still stubbornly trying to rise despite Neji's hand still holding him down.

Neji glanced at Tsunade, uncertain whether to honor the Uchiha's request or not. Tsunade just shrugged her shoulders as if to say: '_if he really wants to so badly_.' Glancing at Kiba, she motioned with her chin for him to go help Neji.

The dog-ninja did as he was ordered and stepped up to the bed on the same side as Kakashi. Together he and Neji snaked their arms under Sasuke's shoulders and gently lifted the other boy into a sitting position. Sasuke gasped as he was shifted, visibly gritting his teeth against the pain that shot through his wounded shoulder and side. His free hand shot up to grip the mass of bandages wrapped around the junction of his shoulder and arm. Tears beaded along the lashes of his clenched eyes.

Taking a moment to catch his breath and to wait for the pain to subside to a more manageable level, Sasuke finally opened his eyes and leaned forward to look around Kiba - Neji and Kiba still supporting the majority of his weight in their arms. For several minutes, Sasuke just stared at the other bed, his eyes locked on the frail blond figure ensconced there.

"He's… alright?" he finally stuttered, his voice nothing more than a shuddery whisper.

"Yes," Tsunade said, stepping closer. "He's going to be alright."

Sasuke seemed to digest this for a moment. Then, as if finally satisfied by what he saw and what he'd been told, he released a shaky breath of air. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head - and he promptly collapsed backwards into Neji and Kiba's arms. Unconscious.

"Whoa!" Kiba yelled, just barely able to catch him in time before he could slip out of his grasp and fall back to the bed. Neji also had to jump to keep hold of the unconscious boy.

"Let him back down slowly," Tsunade said, quickly pushing Neji out of the way and taking his place at Sasuke's side. "He'll tear his shoulder open if he's moved too roughly and he can't risk losing any more blood." Together she and Kiba lowered Sasuke back to the bed and settled him against the pillow. Motioning Kiba away, Tsunade held her hands over Sasuke's shoulder and ran a quick diagnostic jutsu. Bright green light encased the boy before Tsunade finally leaned back with a satisfied nod and reached down to gently smooth the bangs from her patient's pale face.

"Gods you brats are annoying," she said as she readjusted the sheets and blankets over Sasuke. Despite her put-upon tone, a tiny smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "I hate to see what kind of trouble you and Naruto are going to get yourselves into when you're both up and active again. Kami-sama have mercy on Konoha when that day comes…"

While Tsunade continued to loudly fuss and rant over her unconscious patient, Kakashi quietly sat by himself off to the side, secretly looking forward to the day chaos and disaster once again followed in his students' wake. Because that would be the day he finally had Naruto and Sasuke truly back…

To Be Concluded…

This was suppose to be the last chapter, but once again it had to be cut in half because it was getting too long, and I wanted to wrap up all loose ends. The final chapter plus an epilogue will be next time. I know this chapter was kind of anti-climatic after everything else that's happened, but not everything can be life-or-death struggles and dramatic cliffhangers. There has to be quiet moments and times of reflection too. Hope it was enjoyable.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	15. Healing Smiles

So we finally come to it. The last chapter. I think besides suffering a small bout of writer's apathy halfway through and being relatively busy, I was reluctant to see this story actually end. If you look at the story stats, it's just shy of two months of being a year in the making. Sadness! But as they say, all good things must come to an end. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Because it was a blast! Big thanks to all my faithful readers who stayed with me from the very beginning. You guys are the ones that really made this worth writing.

Chapter Fifteen: Healing Smiles

Consciousness returned slowly to Naruto. At first there was nothing but a sea of endless darkness. He felt weightless, as if he were drifting on a current of black nothingness. For an immeasurable length of time he just let himself float in this state of disconnected half-awareness. He felt peaceful here, at ease. There was no pain, no sorrow, no fear. Just peace.

But as he drifted, letting this void of velvety darkness surround and cosset him, the comforting nothingness began to dissolve and fade into a faint haze of light. He suddenly felt as if he were rising, like a diver resurfacing from a long submersion.

Naruto at first resisted, not wanting to leave the darkness just yet. He felt safe here, protected. Whatever lay beyond the darkness was frightening and unknown. He didn't want to leave. All he wanted to do was stay here and rest.

But as the light continued to grow brighter and consume him in its all-encompassing embrace, the almost foreign sensation of physical awareness returned to him. He was suddenly aware of the heaviness of his own body. He lay on something soft and supportive, while a thin weight lay on top him, swaddling him in warmth.

The first thing to truly register in Naruto's mind, however, as the last vestiges of unconsciousness left him was the all-consuming sense of tiredness that seemed to press down on him like a physical weight. A dull ache radiated through his entire body like the residual memory of some horrible torture. All his muscles felt like overcooked ramen noodles.

Groaning at the unwelcome rush of sensations, Naruto groggily rolled his head to the side and struggled to lift his eyelids. They felt impossibly heavy, as if they each weighed a hundred pounds.

Slowly, painfully, he managed to peel his eyelids up enough to look around and take in his surroundings. At first all he could see were the dim outlines of objects washed in brilliant white light. But then, images and shapes slowly began to separate themselves from the overpowering flood of light, and Naruto found himself staring at the white-washed ceiling of an unfamiliar room.

He suddenly realized the softness at his back was a bed, and the fluffy warmth around him several layers of blankets. The rhythmic beeping of machines filled the air, creating an annoying cacophony of noise. Late morning sunlight streamed into the room through a large window off to Naruto's right.

Sleepily blinking his eyes against the flood of light, Naruto struggled to understand where he was. His brain felt like it was in a foggy haze. The last thing he remembered was charging Kisame with a full-powered Rasengan in a moonlight clearing, then feeling as though he was slowly being drained of life as he felt his chakra coils sputter and die inside him.

And that was why he couldn't understand why he was here. Because the weariness and ache in his body told him he was alive. But deep down he knew that was not suppose to be the case; because right before he'd felt his chakra coils fail and the darkness rise up to swallow him, he'd known with irrevocable certainty that he was going to die…

So then how was he here now? Wherever _here _was, that is…

"Ah, I see you're finally awake," a voice suddenly said, startling Naruto out of his thoughts.

Naruto's head snapped towards the voice, his body tensing with an instinctive surge of adrenaline. He hadn't even been aware there was anyone else there with him. But as he took in the sight of the one sitting there beside him, any thoughts of fear immediately drained from him to be replaced with surprise.

"Kakashi-sensei?" he rasped. Naruto winced at the harshness of his own voice. His throat was scratchy and dry from disuse and thirst. Just how long had he been out?

The older ninja was lounging in a wheelchair close beside Naruto's bed, his one elbow casually resting on the edge of the mattress. Despite wearing a light blue set of hospital scrubs, the man still wore his trademark mask and slouched headband. (Naruto wasn't about to say anything, but the combination gave his teacher an even more oddball appearance than usual.) Naruto realized Kakashi must have been sitting there awhile, because a bright orange copy of _Icha Icha Paradise_ was propped open in front of him.

"Hey there," Kakashi said, the corner of his eye crinkling with a smile as he closed his book with a snap and stowed it away on the other side of his seat. He carefully leaned forward and looked down at Naruto over the railing. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Fine," Naruto replied without much thought or truth. He slowly licked his parched lips and looked around the room again, taking in its plain, sterile white walls. "Where am I?" he rasped. "What happened?"

"Well, I thought your first question would be pretty obvious, but you're probably still groggy from all those chakra transfusions," Kakashi said in an amused tone. Chuckling under his breath, he elaborated, "You're in the hospital. You seem to like it so much, you just can't seem to stay away."

His one eye suddenly growing serious though, the copy-ninja leaned closer and said, "As to your second question, you're in the hospital because you came dangerously close to dying from extreme chakra exhaustion. We were only able to put together bits and pieces of what happened that night, but it looks like you and Sasuke had one hell of a fight with Kisame and Itachi."

"Yeah…" Naruto murmured, "I guess you could say that. Sasuke was trying to protect me when-" A sudden realization hit Naruto like a physical blow to the gut. Panic and fear wrapped around his heart like an iron fist, and his blood ran as cold as ice. "Sasuke! Where's Sasuke?" he cried. "Where is he?!" Frantically trying to untangle himself from his nest of blankets, Naruto stared at his teacher, his terrified blue eyes pleading for answers. "What happened to him?! Where is he? Is he okay? I didn't see what happened to him! Tell me if he's alright!"

"Naruto, calm down," Kakashi said, quickly pushing his frail student back down onto the bed. "You're in no condition to be getting up yet."

"I don't care!" Naruto screamed, ignoring his teacher's concerns. "Tell me where Sasuke is! What happened to him? He'd be here if he was alright. When I was in the hospital before he never once left me alone! He was always there when I woke up!" Naruto stared at Kakashi, his stomach twisting with a hundred horrifying thoughts. Did something happen to Sasuke? Was he hurt? He'd seen Kisame land a strike on him with Samehada, which had convinced him to enter the fight to draw the shark-man's attention away from Sasuke; but had something else happened to the boy after he'd passed out?

"Where is he?" Naruto begged, desperately trying to rise. Tears began to sting his eyes. He had to find Sasuke. He knew something had happened. Ever since being rescued from Akatsuki, Sasuke had never left him alone, even for a moment. He'd always been there, right by his side. Whether it was to reassure him he was safe when he woke up from the depths of a horrible nightmare, or to help him escape from attacking Akatsuki ninja, he'd always been there. And for him to wake up now, without his friend's reassuring presence beside him, Naruto knew something terrible had to have happened. "Please, just tell me where he is," he begged.

"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi said, still holding him down with a firm but gentle hand in the middle of his chest. Naruto was dismayed to note how easily the other ninja was able to subdue his pathetically weak struggles. "It's alright. Sasuke's right here."

Naruto froze and stared at the silver-haired man, taken aback. "Huh?" He once again looked around to see if he'd somehow overlooked his friend standing near the window or hiding in the corner. But no matter where he looked, he still saw no sign of the illusive Uchiha heir. "Kakashi-sensei, what are you talking about?" he demanded, a hint of confused fear worming its way into his voice. "Where is he?"

Sighing heavily, Kakashi removed his hand from Naruto chest, and reached down on either side of him to wheel himself backwards several feet out of Naruto's line of sight, giving the boy a clear view of the other side of the room where another hospital bed stood near the door.

Weakly pushing himself up enough to sit and look over the railing, Naruto looked towards the other bed - and gasped at the sight he beheld.

There, laying unconscious with tubes and wire trailing off his motionless form, and his chest and shoulder swaddled in sterile white bandages, was none other than his missing friend Sasuke Uchiha. For a moment Naruto had trouble convincing himself the boy before him was really his former rival. But the longer he stared in numbed horror, the harder it was for him to deny the identity of the one he beheld.

The other boy lay disturbingly still, the gentle rise and fall of his chest the only thing to betray the fact he was, in fact, still alive. Although he had never had a dark complexion, Sasuke was unnaturally pale, as if every last drop of blood had been drained from his body. His eyelids were tightly shuttered, his unconscious features drawn and etched with pain even in his sleep. Half a dozen machines ringed his bed and added to the beeps and hums of those surrounding Naruto's own.

"W-what happened to him?" Naruto stammered, unable to comprehend the sight of his friend laying there so still and lifeless. It just didn't seem right or make any sense. Sasuke had always seemed so strong and invincible, like nothing in the world could ever bring him down. That was why Naruto had always secretly admired the boy; he was the epitome of what a ninja should be. And to see him now - unconscious, injured, battered, weak, and clinging to life with the help of half a dozen machines - turned Naruto's entire reality upside down.

"After you finished Kisame off and passed out, Itachi was going to kill you," Kakashi explained, following Naruto's gaze and staring at his other student. "Sasuke jumped in between you and him to protect you. He managed to deal Itachi a fatal blow, but also took Itachi's sword to the shoulder when he did. He was badly injured but still managed to transfer enough chakra to you to keep your chakra coils from failing until rescue teams could arrive. It was an extremely close call. Sakura told me if they'd found you even a few minutes later than what they did, both you and Sasuke could have very well died…" Kakashi continued to quietly contemplate his dark-haired student, as if reevaluating some old opinion of the boy. "I must admit," he softly added with the twinkle of a smirk in his eye, "I never thought Sasuke capable of being so noble. You must have rubbed off on him more than I thought."

"Will he be alright?" Naruto weakly asked, his eyes locked on the unconscious boy.

"He should be," Kakashi nodded. "Tsunade says he's probably going to need physical therapy to rehabilitate his shoulder once it heals, but she's giving him a pretty optimistic prognosis. He already woke up a few days ago. He was in a lot of pain and still pretty weak from blood loss, but it doesn't look like it'll be too long before he's up and gracing everyone with his charming personality again," Kakashi said with a chuckle.

Naruto glanced at him, confused. "A few days ago? How long have I been asleep?"

"Almost four days. Chakra exhaustion is a dangerous thing, Naruto, especially considering how weak you were before you tried breaking past my Five Point Seal and using Rasengan. I'm actually surprised you're awake at all already. Tsunade and Sakura were both planning on you to sleep for at least another two days."

"But…" Naruto looked back at Sasuke. "But if Sasuke already woke up a few days ago, then why's he still asleep? Why isn't he awake now?"

Kakashi gave another chuckle, a mischievous glint entering his eye. "Sasuke's been fading in and out of it ever since you two were brought in. Everyone thinks it's because of his injuries that he's been sleeping so much, but just between you and me, Tsunade's been giving him higher doses of pain meds than he probably needs to keep him… ah, let's just say, more cooperative... She doesn't trust him not to try and get up out of bed. Every time he wakes up, he tries to see if you're awake. Just yesterday she caught him trying to undo his IV line and get up. That's also why I'm here. Sakura, Jiraiya, Iruka, a couple of your other friends and I have been switching on and off sitting in here to keep an eye on you two. At the risk of sounding like Shikamaru, for being as injured as you are, you two are more troublesome now than you ever were as rookies."

Naruto, however, was only half listening to Kakashi. All he could do was stare at his friend's bandaged, barely recognizable form. This was all his fault… It was his fault Sasuke was hurt. It was his fault his friend was laying here in the same hospital room as him, drugged unconscious because even though injured and half dead he was still only worried about him. It wasn't right. If it hadn't been for him, Sasuke never would have followed him into the woods and been attacked by Itachi and Kisame. If Sasuke hadn't been trying to protect him, the other boy would have never been hurt or come so close to dying…

"This is all my fault…" he moaned, more to himself than the other ninja beside him. A wave of unbidden tears stung the back of Naruto's eyes as the implications of everything that happened crashed down on him. Guilt so intense it felt like he was about to be sick twisted his stomach. "If I hadn't tried to run away Sasuke never would have gotten hurt. This is all my fault…"

"Naruto, listen to me," Kakashi said, quickly leaning forward and gripping Naruto's hand in his own as he speared him with an intense, unwavering look. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. This wasn't your fault. None of this was. You've been nothing but an innocent victim in all this. It wasn't your fault Akatsuki kidnapped you or weakened your curse seal enough for Kyuubi to break past. You were worried about your friends and village's safety; that's why you tried to run away. We understand that. No one blames you for being frightened and wanting to protect those around you - even if you thought you had to protect them from yourself. What happened to Sasuke was nothing but the result of a series of unfortunate events. You and him were both caught in a situation neither one of you could have controlled. Whether you had run away or not, I have no doubt Akatsuki would have tried coming after you at least one more time; and what happened the other night would have only happened later at a different time and in a different setting. Nothing that happened was your fault."

But Naruto was too distraught to listen to the other man. "But what about you?" he demanded. "Or Gai-sensei? I almost killed you when Kyuubi took over of my body. I actually killed those Akatsuki ninja! What if that happens again? He already broke through my curse seal once. What if Kyuubi tries to possess me again? I don't want to hurt any more people."

"You're not going to hurt anyone, Naruto. Tsunade and Jiraiya have already begun working to strengthen the Fourth's seal," Kakashi said. "While you were unconscious they started supplementing their own chakra into the seal to keep Kyuubi contained while you recover. Once you're strong enough and able to maintain your own chakra levels again, they'll finish strengthening it. You don't have to worry about Kyuubi getting out again. You just have to get strong enough to take over maintaining the seal by yourself again. And what happened to Gai and me wasn't your fault either. Being a ninja is a dangerous job, and sometimes being a ninja means putting yourself in danger for another person which is what Gai and I did. Nothing Kyuubi did was your fault."

"Maybe… But it's still my fault Sasuke got hurt," Naruto murmured, unable to meet his teacher's gaze. "I should have never gotten him involved in this. I knew Akatsuki would come after me when you rescued me and brought me back to the village. I knew Kyuubi was close to breaking past the curse seal. And I _knew_ anyone that tried to protect me was going to be in danger." He sharply looked up and met Kakashi's eye. "See?" he demanded, his voice taking on a frantic, unsteady quality as if his sanity was slowly crumbling around the edges. His vision swam with barely contained tears of guilt. "It's my fault Sasuke got hurt! If I'd just told him from the beginning to stay away from me and not worry, he wouldn't have ever been in danger! He would have been safe and never gotten hurt trying to protect me! It's my fault he followed me out of the village! It's my fault he had to jump in between Itachi and me! And it's my fault he almost died!"

"Naruto, you know that's not true," Kakashi calmly said. "You know Sasuke never would have stayed away, even if you had told him to. You don't know how badly he took it when we all thought you'd been killed. He mourned your death all the way up until the very day we found you. I think in some part of his mind he blamed himself for your 'death.'"

"What? Why would he do that?" Naruto stammered, momentarily shocked out of his guilt.

"I don't know, but I think that's why he was so determined to protect you from Akatsuki. All he cared about - and still cares about - is your safety."

"But…" Naruto stammered, looking between Kakashi and the sleeping boy on the other side of the room. Confusion and just a twinge of embarrassment warred with each other for dominance as he struggled to put his jumbled thoughts in order. "But… _why_?"

Kakashi's eye softened, and Naruto saw the sparkle of a smile once again light the visible portion of his teacher's face. "Well," he smirked, "let me ask you something. When Akatsuki invaded Sasuke's home and Itachi was choking him; and when Kisame was about to kill him - yes, we know about that; Sasuke told us - why did you jump into the fight? Why did you put yourself in danger even when you knew you weren't strong enough to actually defeat them?"

"Because Sasuke was in trouble!" Naruto exclaimed, staring at Kakashi as if he were insane. "They were going to kill him! He's my friend! I couldn't let them hurt him!"

"Exactly," Kakashi nodded. "That's the same reason why Sasuke never would have left you to fight Akatsuki alone. That's why he put himself in danger so many times to protect you. You're probably the only person in this entire village he actually considers a friend. You two are exactly the same: you'd risk your lives for each other without a second thought. Not many people can claim to have someone willing to do that for them. That's why you have to start to heal, Naruto. You have people that care about you and want to see you get better. You have to get back your will to live. We know what you were planning to do when you ran away - how you were going to kill yourself. You can't keep hurting yourself because you're afraid of Kyuubi somehow getting out again. Killing yourself isn't going to solve anything. I know for a fact Sasuke would never get over it if you gave up now. He risked his life to protect yours. You don't have anything to be afraid of now. Akatsuki can't come after you again. With Itachi and Kisame dead, almost all their inner members are gone. It's going to take Akatsuki a long time to recover, if they ever do. Their organization is all but destroyed. They're no longer a threat to you. You're finally safe, and this time I can truly say that without a shadow of a doubt. There's no longer any reason for you to think you're a danger to anyone else. We're all here for you and don't want to see you hurt yourself anymore. We want you to get better. But before that can happen you have to decide you're ready to heal. No one else can do that but yourself. You're not alone. You never were. It's time for you to take control of your life again and come back to the light. It's time for you to start living again…"

Naruto sat there for a long moment of silence, digesting Kakashi's words. It seemed so surreal to hear his teacher talk like that as if he actually had a future to look forward to now. For so long he'd lived in the shadow of the belief that the only way he was ever going to escape Akatsuki's grasp was by his own death. He'd given up hope so long ago it didn't seem possible for all of this to be real. Akatsuki was gone, Kyuubi was once again safely sealed, and he (unbelievably) was finally free…

It just didn't seem real. It felt like he should wake up any moment back in some dark and dingy cell - chained to the floor and waiting for one of Akatsuki's inner members to come drag him back into that giant cavern to do their ceremony - with nothing but the memory of this wild, fanciful dream to help stave off insanity and his ever growing desire for death. He was almost afraid to believe that truly wasn't that case, and that he wouldn't yet wake up back in that hellish nightmare.

Dazed by Kakashi's revelations and promises of safety and hope, Naruto glanced across the room back towards his sleeping friend. Despite whatever comfort Kakashi's speech might have given him, a small niggling of guilt still gnawed at the back of Naruto's mind. No matter what Kakashi said, he still felt responsible for Sasuke's injuries. It didn't seem right that his friend had been hurt because of him. He knew Kakashi was right when he said they'd both give their lives for one another - he'd seen Sasuke ready to do it countless times over the last few days, and he had been ready to sacrifice his life to save Sasuke several times himself. It was just that deep down Naruto wished that really wasn't the case. It made him uneasy to know how willing Sasuke was to give his own life to protect him. It just didn't feel right. What if Sasuke had really died that night fighting off Akatsuki? What if he'd woken up today to find Sasuke dead - and because of him? He didn't want to live with that kind of guilt. As long as he'd known his friend would be safe, he could have cared less if he'd died that night in the clearing trying to protect his friend. If he knew it could stop someone else from hurting Sasuke, he would have walked into the very pit of Hell for him without a second thought. But to know Sasuke was willing to do the same for him made Naruto hesitate. That was not something Naruto wanted to live the rest of his life with the knowledge of. Because in some small way, that made him responsible for the other boy's life. And he didn't like it.

It almost made him wish there was some kind of double standard for his and Sasuke's odd friendship. One where he never had to worry about Sasuke sacrificing his own life for him again, or know that his desire to do anything to protect his friend was equaled only by Sasuke's own.

As Naruto sat there, staring at Sasuke's unmoving form, he was suddenly struck by the weight of the decision he knew he now had to make. Like Kakashi said, he now had a choice: to either continue down the path of self-destruction he'd started to protect all those he cared about from Kyuubi's wrath, or to turn back and return to the life he'd once known.

A part of Naruto was still unsure if it was safe to believe Kyuubi was no longer a threat or if Akatsuki wouldn't ever come after him again. But as Naruto continued to quietly contemplate his options and future, he suddenly realized he didn't want to let that crime organization or fox-demon dictate his life anymore. He'd already lost the better portion of a year to Kyuubi and Akatsuki's unrelenting desire to possess it. But now it was his turn to say what he was going to do. It was his turn to retake control of his life and live it the way he wanted. The nightmare was finally over…

Turning back to Kakashi, Naruto smiled softly - the first true smile to light his face since being captured by Akatsuki all those months ago - and said, "Alright."

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow at him, as if asking him to explain.

Naruto smiled a little wider, and went on, "You're right. It's time for me to start over. It's my responsibility to make sure Kyuubi can't break out again. That means I have to get stronger. I don't want Sasuke or anyone else to have to worry about me anymore. If I get stronger then no one else will have to put themselves in danger for me again. Sasuke almost died protecting me. That's why I have to get better. I owe him. I wouldn't be a good friend if I forgot about everything he did for me and threw it all away now."

The corner of Kakashi's eye crinkled with a smile. "I'm glad to hear that," he said. "I know Sasuke will be very happy to know."

"Know what?" a groggy voice suddenly said from the other side of the room.

Kakashi and Naruto's heads both snapped towards it.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed and scrambled to the edge of his bed to lean over the railing and better see the other boy.

Sasuke still lay exactly how he did when Naruto first saw him - flat on his back, swaddled in layers of bandages and blankets, and tragically frail and weak looking. The only difference now was that his eyelids were partially open and his head lulled in Naruto's direction. His eyes were dull and glazed with pain, drugs and something else Naruto couldn't exactly name but felt the inner core of his being ache at the sight of. It was a crime to see someone as strong and resilient as the last remaining Uchiha reduced to such a state. It went against everything Naruto took to be natural and right in the world…

"Naruto?" Sasuke slurred. His voice was raspy and weak - barely even audible. But the underlying note of cautious hope in it was unmistakable. Blinking his cloudy eyes as if unsure whether to believe what he saw was really real, Sasuke weakly shifted in his cocoon of blankets, straining to lift his head up off the pillow. Naruto didn't fail to miss the boy's tiny gasp of pain as he moved too quickly and pulled the stitches of his wounded shoulder.

"Sasuke, don't move so much," he said, anxiously leaning over the railing. If he wasn't sure he'd collapse the moment he tried to stand, he would have already rushed to his wounded friend's side. "Kakashi-sensei told me your shoulder's hurt. You have to be careful or you're going to hurt it more."

Sasuke hardly seemed to hear him though. His attention was wholly focused on the other shinobi. "Naruto, you're awake," he rasped, his voice cracking with relief. "Finally… I didn't know if you were ever going to wake up…"

"I'm fine," Naruto said, still slightly unnerved by Sasuke's fragile state. It killed him to see his friend laying there so weak and helpless. "I'm going to be alright," he went on, suddenly desperate to reassure his friend he didn't have to put himself in danger anymore for him. The ugly, multi-headed beast of guilt once again began to rear its head deep inside his heart. "I talked to Kakashi-sensei. Akatsuki's gone and my curse seal's strong enough that I can't hear Kyuubi anymore. I'm going to get better. I'm not going to keep hurting myself. I want to get stronger so I can protect myself again. You don't have to worry about me anymore. You'll see."

A shaky smile tugged at the corner of Sasuke's lips, and a bone-rattling sigh of relief shook his frame. It wasn't difficult to see Sasuke was still fighting off the lingering aftereffects of Tsunade's sedatives. His eyelids seemed too heavy for him to fully open; and Naruto's reassurance that he no longer had to worry about him fading away seemed to zap the Uchiha of all his remaining strength. Naruto never knew the sudden release of so much pent-up worry could have such a weakening effect on a person - especially one as closed off and aloof as Sasuke.

Yet despite all this, the relieved smile that spread across Sasuke's face made Naruto wonder if maybe, just in this case, such weakness really wasn't weakness at all; but rather evidence of a bond so strong it could either break a person or make a person the strongest he's ever been.

"Thank gods…" Sasuke breathed, still groggily blinking heavy eyelids. "I didn't know if you were going to make it. I was so afraid I didn't do enough to protect you…"

"You did more than you ever should have," Naruto protested, guilty looking away from Sasuke towards the floor. "It's my fault you got hurt. I shouldn't have run away like that and made you have to come after me. I just didn't want to put anymore people in danger, but that's exactly what I ended up doing. I'm so sorry, Sasuke. I shouldn't have-"

"Naruto," Sasuke sharply cut him off. "Don't."

Naruto instantly fell silence and stared at the other boy.

Holding Naruto's gaze with his own, Sasuke took a deep breath and said in a quiet voice, "Just don't, Naruto. Stop blaming yourself for what happened. I don't want to hear it. I know how you are. You want everyone to be happy and safe, and when they're not you want to find any reason you can to blame yourself for it. It's not your fault."

"Why does everybody keep saying that?" Naruto demanded, his voice cracking with emotion. "Why won't anyone just admit how much trouble I caused?"

"Because it wasn't your fault," Sasuke said. "If it was anyone's fault, it was Akatsuki's."

"You're just saying that. You out of everyone else got hurt the most because of me."

"Probably. But that doesn't mean I blame you or hold anything against you. I'd do it all again if I had to."

"Don't say that!" Naruto exclaimed, angry tears of guilt stinging the corners of his eyes. "I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me - especially you! I already owe you too much for you to say you'd let yourself get hurt again."

Sasuke heaved a frustrated sigh, his patience clearly beginning to wan. "You're not going to let this go until you've done something to clear your conscience, are you?"

Too upset to actually answer, Naruto just nodded his head.

Sasuke gave another sigh. "Fine. If you really want to ease this idiotic guilt-complex of yours, there is one thing you can do for me."

Naruto leaned closer, eager to hear what he could do to repay his friend's sacrifice.

Sasuke held his gaze with unreadable dark eyes, almost as if he were trying to look into his very soul.

"Just be happy."

The blond shinobi stared at Sasuke, not quite sure he heard correctly.

As if reading the confusion in Naruto's eyes, Sasuke went on, "If you really want to repay me, Naruto, just be happy again. That's all I want. You're the only person I know who can make everyone around him smile just by being yourself. When you were gone, it was like something was missing. Nothing was right. No one was happy. I miss the way things used to be before you went away to train with Jiraiya. I don't want to see you live the rest of your life haunted by what Akatsuki did to you. It's not right. Everything I did was because I want to see you happy again. I'm tired of seeing you so afraid and sick that you'd rather die than try to get better. I want the clumsy, orange-wearing idiot I used to know back. I miss that person, Naruto. I miss my friend…"

Naruto sat there for a long moment of silence, stunned. That was it? That was all Sasuke wanted from him? It seemed too simple a request. Too easy. Too little a thing to do in return for what Sasuke had been so ready to give away in exchange for his own safety.

But seeing the shine of unspoken pleading in Sasuke's eyes - the desperate need to hear him agree - Naruto was suddenly reminded once again why he had to get better. There were people who cared about him, people he wanted to see happy. And if getting better meant that Sasuke would be happy, then who was he to question his friend's request?

"I think I can do that," Naruto said, a toothy smile slowly spreading across his face. "If you're sure that's all you really want."

"Yes," Sasuke nodded. "I'm sure…"

A comfortable silence descended on the room. And as the two friend stared at each other in quiet contemplation - basking in the warmth of friendship and renewed hope - Naruto suddenly realized with unquestioned certainty that the horrors of the past few months were finally over, and that everything now was going to be alright…

* * *

**Epilogue  
**Six Months Later 

Autumn had once again returned to the hidden village of Konoha. The late October air was brisk with the promise of Winter's approaching cold, but invigorating to the senses after Summer's oppressive heat. A clear blue sky stretched overhead like an endless sapphire sea, the sun a brilliant gold ball of warmth. Around the perimeter of the village's fortified walls, the forest was a colorful display of golds, reds and yellows, making anyone who looked upon the oak trees' crimson leaves wonder if they weren't really the reason for the Fire country's name.

Inside the village, sounds of daily life rang with excited vigor. Just after midday, the marketplace was a crowded, bustling cacophony of noise and movement. Women moved around bartering with vendors for that evening's meal while small children bounced and whined at their sides and were told to behave. Men stood in small groups here and there along the street exchanging recent news and talking politics. Amongst Konoha's civilian population also mingled a number of its ninja residents enjoying a hard-earned day off or hurrying to wherever it was they had to go.

And for two young ninja sitting beside each other at the counter of one of Konoha's better known ramen stands, it just so happened to be the former reason that had brought them there together that day.

"Oi, old man!" one of the two - a spikey-haired blond teenager - yelled, his high-pitched voice ringing through the tiny shop and halfway down the street. "Another bowl of miso ramen please!"

The quiet, dark-haired boy beside him visibly winced at the rasping effect the frequency of his sixteen-year old companion's voice had on his ears, and snapped, "Do you have to be so loud, loser? It's not like the owner's deaf."

The blond, however, ignored him and broke into an ear-splitting grin as another steaming bowl of noodles was placed in front of him by a slightly annoyed Ichiraku. Brandishing his chopsticks, Naruto dug into his food with a zeal unseen in any of the shop's other customers.

Watching his friend hurriedly slurp noodles into his mouth without hardly taking any time in between bites to actually chew, Sasuke shot Naruto a disgusted look and sniffed, "I hope you're not expecting me to pay for all this. That's your eighth bowl of ramen already."

"Aw, come on, Sasuke!" Naruto whined, finally swallowing the half-masticated chunk of noodles in his mouth and turning towards his friend. "You said you'd take me to lunch. That means you pay! I can't help it if I'm still hungry."

Heaving a disgruntled sigh, Sasuke just shook his head in defeat and waved Naruto back towards his ramen. With a toothy grin, the blond obliged and happily tucked back into his meal.

As Naruto continued to loudly slurp his ramen like a man dying of hunger, Sasuke pushed the remnants of his own half-eaten lunch aside and sipped at a glass of water, all the while surreptitiously studying the boy beside him out of the corner of his eye. Despite his protests he really didn't mind buying lunch. He only complained to save face. Deep down he was glad to see the blond inhaling ramen again like it was air. If buying Naruto lunch meant he never had to see his friend so emaciated and starved like he'd been before again, Sasuke would have willingly bought him a life time supply of ramen in a heartbeat. Just anything to never have to see him like that again… Even now, six months after Akatsuki's defeat, Sasuke would still find himself at times stealing glances at Naruto's plate to reassure himself his friend had actually eaten…

Since surviving their last encounter with Itachi and Kisame and Kyuubi's curse seal being successfully strengthened by Konoha's resident Sannin, Naruto had made an astounding recovery. No longer a walking skeleton, he'd regained almost all the weight he'd lost within several months of Akatsuki's defeat and was once again a wild, bouncing whirlwind of excitement. There was light again in Naruto's eyes and a goofy grin almost always on his face. Energetic, boisterous and as annoying as ever, it was almost possible to believe nothing had ever happened to the blond at all.

But for those who knew Naruto best and knew how to look past his sunny façade, to believe he'd survived everything he had with no repercussions or lasting effects would have been a blatant act of self-illusion and denial.

And no one was more aware of the subtle changes in Naruto's demeanor than Sasuke himself. Although he knew Naruto tried to hide the effects his time with Akatsuki had had on him, every so often he'd see the light in Naruto's eyes dim and a sudden hush fall over the rambunctious whirlwind as if he'd suddenly been reminded of some dark and unspoken memory that would have been better off left forgotten.

It usually didn't take much for Sasuke to break Naruto out of his funks. Usually a snide comment or two that got the blond riled up and demanding a fight, or an offer to take him out to Ichiraku's worked well enough. Whatever the case, Sasuke tried to make sure he was always nearby to distract Naruto from his thoughts should any unwanted memories resurface to haunt the boy. He didn't trust anyone else to know what to do to bring Naruto back if he suddenly became quiet and distant like that. After everything they'd been through, only he knew how to reach his friend. And it was because of this and the unbreakable bond the two of them now shared, they'd become near inseparable. Over the last few months, Sasuke had overheard more than a few ninja and gossipy housewife comment on how one of them was rarely seen without the other, and doubted very much that was about to change anytime soon…

Beside him, Naruto had already polished off his latest bowl of noodles and called out to the owner for yet another. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke strayed his hand to the money pouch on his hip to check its contents. He was pretty sure he'd brought enough money to cover at least twenty bowls for the Bottomless Pit, otherwise known as Naruto Uzumaki. If not, he was sure the owner would just let him add today's lunch to his and Naruto's running tab. They were, after all, his undisputed best customers…

It was funny sometimes how normal this scene had become over the last few months, them sitting here eating lunch like this, like nothing had ever happened. After so much horror and hardship, it was strange to lead a somewhat normal life again.

Forgiven by the Hokage for his past crime of attempted desertion, he was now allowed to leave the village without any kind of restrictions or jounin escort, and had even seemed to regain some of the trust and respect of their fellow ex-Rookies. Sasuke was pretty sure all of that stemmed from him protecting Naruto the way he had when Akatsuki was still after the teenage demon-vessel, but in the end didn't really care about his regained place in Konoha society. Everything he'd done for Naruto had been because of his friendship with the blond. Not because he wanted to somehow curry favor with the Fifth Hokage or any of their old acquaintances.

Sasuke still at times wondered if he wasn't going to suddenly wake up and find all of this a dream with Naruto still dead and Akatsuki still threatening to destroy the village with Itachi at the lead. It was still hard at times for him to believe his brother was really gone and no longer there to haunt him. For so long Itachi had been the single focal point of his life. To now be free of that overhanging burden of hatred and revenge left Sasuke a little unsure at times of what he was suppose to do next. It was frightening feeling so lost like that, so deprived of purpose and direction. But whenever he was around Naruto, those thoughts almost instantly disappeared. Whenever he was around the blond whirlwind all thoughts of Itachi vanished and he was once again reminded of why he'd been so ready to throw everything away and jump in between Naruto and his brother's sword. It was only around Naruto that Sasuke remembered he no longer had to live in the past and now had his entire future to look forward to without anyone else dictating its path. He was finally free of Itachi's influence. And it was because of that he knew if he ever had to again, he'd give his life in a heartbeat to protect his teammate in return for the priceless gift he'd received and for the strength his and Naruto's friendship had given him to finally defeat his older brother once and for all.

Just then, as Ichiraku placed Naruto's ninth or tenth bowl of ramen in front of him (Sasuke was starting to lose count), two figures suddenly pushed aside the shop's door hangings and ducked through inside. Naruto actually paused in his feeding frenzy to look up and grin at the new arrivals.

"Kakashi-sensei! Sakura-chan!" he shouted with an ear-splitting smile.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted with a lazy wave and sat down beside Naruto at the counter. "I see you two managed to beat us here."

"That's not hard to do when you're always late," Sasuke took the opportunity to point out. The famed copy-ninja, however, didn't rise to the bait and just gave Sasuke an amicable masked grin.

As Sasuke turned back to his glass of water, he felt a familiar presence slide up behind him.

"Hi, Sasuke," Sakura said in an overly sugared, coyly shy voice as she took the stool on the other side of him. "How are you today?"

Without even glancing in her direction, Sasuke could feel Sakura batting her eyelashes at him. He stifled a groan. Ever since protecting Naruto from Itachi, Sakura's old crush on him seemed to have come roaring back to life. Although it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before he'd tried deserting Konoha, Sakura's open display of affection and clinginess still managed to unnerve the stoic Uchiha.

"Fine," he grunted in response and pointedly went back to sipping water so he wouldn't have to talk to her. He might have gained more respect for the pink-haired medic over the last few years and didn't find her presence quite so annoying as he used to, but that didn't mean he wanted to regain her as one of his unwanted fan girls.

"So are you two ready for tomorrow?" Kakashi asked.

In a single motion that defied at least several laws of physics, Naruto finished sucking up an impossibly large mouthful of ramen, swallowed it in a single gulp and whipped around on his stool towards Kakashi with the same excitement of a five year old who'd just been promised to be taken out for ice cream.

"You bet!" he exclaimed, almost bouncing up and down on his stool. "Sasuke and I have been training for weeks to get back into shape. I hope the old hag gives us something really good!"

Kakashi's one eye turned up in a grin. "I happen to know for a fact Tsunade has a mission she set aside specifically for us. It's an escort mission for the leader of a small village on the border of Water country."

"Escort mission?!" Naruto squawked. "But that's barely even a C-rank mission! I thought she'd give us something a little better! We deserve at least a B-rank mission!"

"An escort mission is a perfect starter mission for you and Sasuke after being gone for so long," Kakashi said. "The two of you were only healed enough to start retraining a couple months ago. You can't expect to be assigned an A-rank mission the first thing back after such a long recovery."

"But that's not fair!" Naruto whined. Spinning around on his stool, he speared Sasuke with a disgruntled look. "Come on, Sasuke. Tell him we can handle something better. Maybe something cool like recovering some super secret scroll that was stolen by enemy ninja! Or maybe a rescue mission to save some kidnapped princess! Or maybe even-!"

"Naruto," Sasuke sharply cut him off before the hyperactive teen could go any farther. "Calm down. Kakashi's right. An escort mission will be fine for us to start back with. We'll get a B-rank mission next time."

Pouting like a child that'd just been denied dessert, Naruto turned back around to sullenly stare into the dregs of his bowl. "Fine…" he murmured, and dejectedly stirred the tips of his chopsticks in the remaining broth so that the miso that'd settled there at the bottom billowed up in a milky cloud. The air of unrestrained energy and excitement that'd been there barely moments before was now nowhere to be seen on the boy's whiskered face.

Shooting his friend a softened look out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke quickly added in a feigned tone of boredom, "Although, if this escort mission turns out anything like our first one to Wave country, I wouldn't be surprised if several teams of enemy-nin try to attack us on the way there. By the way trouble follows you around, I'd be surprised if our simple C-class mission doesn't somehow turn into a B or A-rank one…"

Just as expected, Naruto's face lit up at the prospect of danger and adventure, and broke into a toothy grin. "Yeah, ya think?" he excitedly said. "I forgot about that old bridge builder! Yeah, yeah! Maybe we'll have another mission like that! Wouldn't that be cool if we did?"

Sasuke just gave a noncommittal grunt and took another sip of water. He highly doubted anything so exciting was going to happen again. What happened with Tazuna, Haku, and Zabuza had been a total fluke. But if believing they possibly faced another mission like that made Naruto so happy, he wasn't about to destroy the other boy's childish fantasy.

From further down the counter on Naruto's other side, Kakashi leaned forward into Sasuke's line of view. "Are you sure you're up to fighting any life-or-death battles like that just yet, Sasuke?" he called. There was laughter in the copy-ninja's voice. "After all, I'd hate to see you hurt your shoulder again so soon after Tsunade finally announced it healed. You haven't tested it out in real battle yet, and I don't want it to go out on you in the middle of a fight."

"It'll be fine," Sasuke said, and reached up to grip the hollow of his left shoulder where Itachi had almost cleaved his arm from the rest of his body barely half a year ago. "Naruto and I have been doing a lot of sparring the last few weeks, and the loser does a fairly good job of giving me a halfway decent fight." Sasuke saw Naruto shoot him a dirty look out of the corner of his eye, and smirked at how easy it was to still get a rise out of the other boy. "I know it won't be an issue."

Kakashi nodded his approval.

Rolling his shoulder first forward, then backwards, Sasuke felt it smoothly respond to his muscles commands just like it was suppose to without any twinge of tightness or pain. It had been frightening how close he'd almost come to never being a ninja again. For several months after his and Naruto's last encounter with Itachi and Kisame, Tsunade hadn't been sure if his shoulder would ever fully heal. It was only after three months with his arm in a sling that she'd finally declared the muscles and nerves in his shoulder healed enough to begin rehabilitation exercises. Physical therapy had been a long and painful process Sasuke hoped he never had to go through again. Stiff, tender and partially atrophied from months of disuse, training his arm back into working condition had been virtual torture at times. It had only been through hard work, determination and Naruto's continued encouragement that he'd managed to regain full use of his arm and return to training several months after that. All that remained now to remind him of Itachi's near-fatal blow was an ugly knot of pink scar tissue that ran from the dip of his shoulder to the lower edge of his collarbone, and several inches down his back on the other side. All things considering, he was lucky to have survived such an injury with nothing to show for it but a nasty scar…

Feeling the weight of eyes on him, Sasuke glanced to his left and found Naruto still glaring at him through narrowed eyes and a stormy expression. "What's the matter, dead-last?" he calmly asked.

"What do you mean 'halfway decent fight?!'" Naruto exploded without any more prompting. "I kicked your ass all over the training field yesterday and you know it! You even said I won!"

Sasuke inwardly smirked. So Naruto was still fuming about his earlier jab. It never failed to amuse him how little restraint the other boy had over his emotions even when he should have learned by now that all his comments were nothing more than his own twisted way of showing affection.

"I don't know what you're talking about, loser," he coolly sniffed. "I don't know why you think I'd ever say something like that when we both know you could never possibly beat me in a fight…"

If it was possible, Naruto's already anger-flushed face turned even redder. "You jerk! That's it! We're settling this right now! Training field four is open. I'm going to pound your face into the ground!"

"Let's see you try," Sasuke smirked.

Getting up, Sasuke quickly tabulated the number of empty ramen bowls stacked in front of Naruto's seat and threw several currency bills down onto the counter. Then turning towards the fuming demon-vessel, Sasuke nodded for him to lead the way. Naruto readily complied, and together the two began to move towards the door.

"Just don't kill each other," Kakashi playfully called after them. "We have a mission first thing tomorrow and I don't want to have to be the one to tell Tsunade her best two patients are back in the hospital. Again…"

"Don't worry," Sasuke called back over his shoulder. "This isn't going to take long."

"Bastard!" Naruto growled.

But even as the two ducked under Ichiraku's door hangings and out into the bright October sunlight -still bickering and exchanging barbed insults - an almost palpable air of camaraderie surrounded them, binding them together. And as Sasuke headed towards the training grounds with his hyperactive friend close beside, he suddenly realized for the first time in as long as he could remember that he was truly happy, and that everything now was finally going to be alright…

The End

* * *

So after all the emotional turmoil, gloominess and otherwise all-around angst of this story, how was it in the end? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? 

I know it might seem that Naruto made too fast of a turnaround back to his sunny personality when compared to his disposition in previous chapters, but I believe he hides a lot of his residual hurt and fear inside even if he did for the most part make a full recovery. Sasuke, too, although at the end seems outwardly the same snaky bastard he was before the whole Akatsuki incident, is inwardly left changed by the ordeal just like Naruto was, which is why, deep down, they both share such a strong bond with one another.

Any thoughts?

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So until we meet in another story,

I'm LAXgirl,  
signing out


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